The Veil
by ShaViva
Summary: Couples are drawn to a deserted part of the city during episodes of apparent sleepwalking and it soon becomes clear that there is something sinister lurking in the city of the Ancients. Sheyla; Ronon/Jenn; Radek/OC; Lorne/Cadman; nice serve of McKay too!
1. John and Teyla

**The Veil**

Author: ShaViva

Rating: T

Content Warning: Mild swearing, adult themes

Season: October, season 5 ... after Outsiders, slightly AU, you'll see how when you read it.

Summary: The couples on Atlantis begin to suffer episodes of apparent sleepwalking as they are drawn to a deserted part of the city, and it soon becomes apparent that there is something sinister lurking in the city of the ancients. Halloween story! Features the full cast.

Classifications: My best attempt at Horror along with some Romance ... what a lovely combination!

Pairings: John/Teyla; Ronon/Keller; Radek/OC; Lorne/Cadman

Spoilers for: Minor references to Quarantine; Daedalus Variations; First Contact/The Lost Tribe

Acknowledgements: Wikipedia for some very basic information about Halloween.

Disclaimer: The Stargate characters, storylines, etc aren't mine. I am unfortunately not associated in any way with the creators, owners, or producers of Stargate or any of its media franchises – if I was we'd be seeing them on TV for some time to come *sighs dejectedly*. All publicly recognizable characters, settings, equipment, etc are the property of whoever owns them. The original characters and plot and anything else I made up are the property of me, the author. No copyright infringement is intended.

Copyright (c) 2009 ShaViva

oOo

**Author's Note:**

This story is completely written - I'll edit and post a chapter a day with the idea that it'll be concluding on Halloween Eve. This is my first attempt at this kind of story - the idea came to me the other day and I just had to have a go writing it - so please be kind! I'm still planning on starting posting of my next Lorne background story soon too, for those who are waiting for that. Okay, on with the story.

oOo

**Chapter 1: John and Teyla**

"Teyla?" Sheppard woke with a start, sitting up and squinting into the darkness. It was quiet and for a moment he felt disorientated, like where he was wasn't where he expected to be. And then he remembered. Teyla was on the mainland visiting what remained of her people. She'd taken Torren with her, leaving John to spend a rare night alone in their quarters. It was Kanaan's turn with their son and Teyla always lingered, still not used to returning to the city without the boy.

Shaking his head, the Colonel slumped back in the bed. It still surprised him how quickly he'd gotten used to being one half of a couple, even though he and Teyla had been together for six months. After Kanaan and the rest of her people had been returned to their former selves she'd tried to make a family with the father of her child but Kanaan had struggled in the harsh reality of living on Atlantis, separated from the rest of the Athosians. The relationship had floundered and then petered out, Kanaan leaving the city to return to his people on the understanding that the two would share custody of Torren.

John had been concerned for Teyla of course, even though deep down his unrequited feelings had rejoiced that she was once again available for him to 'admire from afar'.

Things would have gone on as before with neither acknowledging the feelings of the other if not for their mission on the duplicated Daedalus. For some reason Teyla had taken to heart the plight and eventual fate of that other team Sheppard. They'd met to spar soon afterwards, John expecting the session to be like any other. It _had_ been, except for Teyla's unexpected aggression. She'd met every one of his attacks and countered it forcefully; the two battling silently for a prize John didn't know he'd been competing for. Eventually she'd tricked him into lunging forward, circling around behind him and sweeping his legs out from under him. Winded, he'd been more than a little surprised when she'd pinned him down with her body over his and demanded he reveal his feelings for her. In the face of her first honest, open request he could do nothing less than give her his honesty in return.

The heat of battle had morphed into a heated exchange of another sort until the two had worked out that they belonged together. From then on they'd been a couple, weathering the brief spout of gossip with calm certainty until it was a given that John Sheppard and Teyla Emmagen were 'together'.

"You're getting soft," John muttered to himself. "Can't sleep peacefully without your woman around to soothe you." Chuckling, he settled back into a sleeping position, writing off his disquiet to the fact that he missed Teyla's presence. A short time later he fell back into a restless sleep.

oOo

He woke early the next morning, hours before he was due on duty. Deciding to check in with the night crew in the control room Sheppard quickly went through the motions of showering and dressing, his boot heels echoing loudly in the corridor as he strode through the city.

"Anything to report?" he asked Chuck as he ran up the stairs to the newly refurbished control room, the other man finishing up the first day of his stint on the night shift.

"No Sir," Chuck replied. Pressing a few buttons on his console he looked over his shoulder at the city's commanding officer. "There was a brief power surge in sector five a few hours ago ... I was just finishing up a report for Doctor McKay."

"Sector five?" John repeated with a frown. "Anywhere near Janus's lab?"

Chuck called up a schematic of the city, zooming in on the tower where the secret lab had been found a few weeks before. "No Sir," he said, pointing to the floor one level below the hidden room. "It's one of the still unexplored areas – there's a little flood damage but it looks like it could be in pretty good condition considering it was under water for so long."

"Okay, send the report to McKay," John agreed. "If he thinks it's worthwhile I'll take the team over there tomorrow."

"_After_ Teyla gets back," Chuck concluded with a hint of amusement.

"Are you trying to suggest something there Chuck?" John asked, his expression carefully bland.

"No Sir," that hint of amusement dropped away abruptly from the gate techs face.

"Good," John paused for a moment before continuing. "That fact that I prefer having my girlfriend around is a closely guarded secret you know."

"Of course it is Sir," Chuck relaxed again, a faint smile on his face.

"Anything else?" John asked casually.

"No Sir," Chuck replied.

"Okay ... carry on," John waved a hand to the other man's console, nodding once before turning and heading out of the control room again. With any luck they'd be serving breakfast in the Mess hall and he'd be able to get in first for a change.

oOo

"John?" Teyla came abruptly back to herself, her heart pounding loudly in her ears. It was pitch black and cold – her eyes were open but she couldn't see well enough for that to help. Worse still, she didn't know where she was, her last conscious thought enjoyment of being back in the city with John as they settled down to sleep.

Unfamiliar sounds competed for attention in the background. Water dripping intermittently. The ocean, faintly from below. Rustling fabric, close by. And breathing ... slow and even.

A wave of fear washed over her and she froze. Someone else was there.

Reaching out a hand blindly, Teyla felt for the wall, stumbling slightly as she moved carefully forward. When she found it, her skin crawled at the damp, slimly feel of cold tiles in the darkness. It was probably just the residue of repeated exposure to water but because Teyla couldn't see it ... the unknown created the impression of something alien and disgusting.

Pausing, she strained to pinpoint the source of that breathing.

There ... in and out ... slow, steady ... and somehow familiar.

"John?" Teyla called out again uncertainly. "John!" she said it louder, her voice bouncing off the walls behind her.

"Wh – what?" Sheppard was assaulted by a host of impressions as he woke from the depths of a dreamless sleep.

Hard floor. Coldness all around. Darkness.

Where the hell was he and why had he been sleeping on the floor?

"Teyla," he called out.

"Oh, thank the Ancestors!" her voice shook with nerves and relief.

"You okay?" John asked, straining his eyes and just barely picking out a darker shape a few steps away.

"I am ... well," Teyla tried to reassure him but her voice was too uncertain to be convincing.

"Where the hell are we?" John demanded, moving forward and reaching out for her hand. When she took it he almost flinched at how icy it was. Wherever they were it was a sure bet they'd been there for some time.

"I do not know," Teyla replied worriedly. "I awoke only moments before you." Clutching his hand tightly, she stepped into his embrace, resting her head against his chest and breathing in deeply. The familiarity of his heart beat in her ear, his scent in her nostrils was more calming than anything else could have been.

"Lights," John said forcefully, actively thinking the command at the city controls.

Nothing happened.

"Great," John muttered. Fumbling for his ear piece he was dismayed to find it missing - of course he didn't sleep with it on but had been hoping he'd instinctively picked it up back in their room. "Damn it!" he said loudly. Without lights or a radio, finding their way back to somewhere familiar was going to be a problem.

"What is it?" Teyla asked, concerned.

"It's okay," John rubbed a hand down her back in comfort. Realising that she was wearing only a brief singlet and long sleeping pants, her arms and torso completely bare and covered in goose bumps, he quickly pulled off his shirt, glad he had a t-shirt underneath. "Here," he said, draping the still warm shirt over Teyla's shoulders.

While she gratefully slipped her arms into the sleeves John looked around the room again. His eyes had begun to adjust to the darkness ... with the small amount of moonlight coming through the narrow window he had just enough visibility to see that it was what looked like an abandoned lab. Grabbing Teyla's hand he moved over to the console, bringing her with him. Waving a hand over the activation panel he wasn't surprised when nothing happened.

"No power down here," he commented lightly. "I don't suppose you've got your radio on you?"

"No," Teyla said simply.

"Me either," John admitted. "Can you remember anything about how we got down here?"

"Nothing," Teyla said starkly. "My last recollection was kissing you goodnight in our bed ... in _our_ room."

"Mine too," John pulled her closer, putting his arm around her. "I'm sure there's an explanation here that'll have Rodney talking a mile a minute. All we need to do is find our way to the nearest transporter so he can start looking for it."

"It is very dark," Teyla said worriedly, wrapping her arm around his waist.

"I can see a little," John countered. "Come on ... if we take it slow we should be fine."

"Very well," Teyla kept her body close to his as they walked slowly across the room, John trailing a hand against the clammy cold wall to guide their way. When they hit a corner he turned and continued forward until finally they found the entrance.

The corridor outside was also dark ... John could see just enough to find the wall again. As before they walked slowly forward, keeping close to the only thing that wasn't completely unknown.

"How're you doing?" John asked, instinctively speaking in a low tone even though there was no real need for them to be quiet.

"I find the darkness to be most disturbing John," Teyla admitted.

"Yeah, it's a little creepy," John agreed. They'd been spoiled - the city automatically turning lights on when it sensed their presence and then off again when they were gone. "Don't worry – we should get to the end of the corridor soon – hopefully there'll be a transporter there."

Teyla nodded, letting John guide her forward again.

Thankfully John's words proved true ... they found the end of the corridor only moments later. It didn't have a transporter but John managed to find the stairs, deciding to go up one floor at a time until he found somewhere with enough power to contact the control room.

He recognised the floor above immediately ... standing in the corridor the memory of seeing metal suited aliens taking Rodney and Doctor Jackson was still vivid in his mind. "Finally we're getting somewhere," he said, urging Teyla to walk faster now they had more light to see.

Reaching Janus's lab he strode inside and straight across to the console.

"Rodney, this is Sheppard," he accessed the comms to call his team mate, not sure what the time was but not really caring if he woke the other man up.

"3am?" Rodney's grumpy voice came back abruptly. "Don't you have anything better to do than call me at 3am?"

"I need you down at Janus's lab McKay ... right now," John ordered, his tone waking Rodney up in a hurry. "Bring a blanket and a torch."

oOo

Hours later John and Teyla sat in the conference room, going over the events of the early morning as they knew them. Present was Richard Woolsey, Rodney, Ronon, Jennifer Keller and Evan Lorne. Details were sketchy ... although they'd taken Rodney back to the room they'd awoken in there was nothing to indicate why they'd been there nor how they'd managed the trip down there while sleeping.

"No signs of anyone else being present Sir," Lorne reported, having checked out the scene in detail personally. "It's unlikely someone could have taken the two of you there without being noticed anyway. I'm accessing video surveillance records but that won't help us much – most of the likely route from your quarters to that room are outside security coverage. It should show you leaving your quarters which might give us some idea of what was going on."

"Your physicals came back as normal," Jennifer reported next. "I can't see a medical reason for you to forget how you got down to that room. Unless you both have a history of sleep walking?"

"Not me," John replied, looking at Teyla quizzically. She shook her head wordlessly. "Teyla either," John answered for her.

"There might be something in that room that could explain it," Rodney broke in, looking up from the laptop he'd been tapping away at. "I had a report from the gate techs about a power surge there – about the same time yesterday in fact. That might be a coincidence but it's worth checking out further."

"Agreed," Woolsey nodded. "For now I suggest Colonel Sheppard and Teyla retire to get some rest. Major Lorne will see if there's an explanation on the security footage and Doctor McKay will look for a scientific explanation in the room itself. Let's wait until we have the results before we draw any conclusions."

Calling the meeting to a close he pushed his chair back and walked unhurriedly from the room. Major Lorne nodded to Sheppard before following Woolsey out, Rodney close at his heels.

"You okay?" Ronon looked from John to Teyla and then back again.

"Apart from having a blank spot where we apparently walked half the city while sleeping, we're just great," John shrugged. "I hope to hell Lorne or McKay find something."

"As do I," Teyla said, stifling a yawn.

"Come on," John rose, pulling her to her feet. "Let's get some sleep," he urged, nodding a farewell to Ronon and Jennifer as he led Teyla away.


	2. Ronon and Jennifer

**Chapter 2: Ronon and Jennifer**

Ronon met Jennifer's gaze, noting her worried expression as she watched John and Teyla walk away. "Let's get some breakfast first, " he said firmly. "Then you can redo all those tests."

Chuckling, Jennifer let him wrap an arm around her shoulders, pleased that he knew her so well. That fact still gratified and amazed her. That Ronon saw something in her worth putting aside his life of no attachments for was something she never took for granted, no matter how long it had been since their first date.

Not that you could call being trapped together in the infirmary ... alone ... during a false quarantine lockdown a date as such. It _had_ been the first time they'd taken the time to share something of themselves. To Jennifer's mind that made it the beginning of their relationship, even though it had taken time to move from that to the closeness they now shared.

"You're worried," Ronon commented once they were sitting together at a table in the still quiet mess hall, their breakfast mostly finished.

"I am," Jennifer admitted. "Assuming Evan is right and there was no outside interference the only explanations that come to mind are medical – I can't think of anything else that would explain why both Teyla _and_ John were affected."

"But you didn't find anything," Ronon reminded her.

"Not yet," the young doctor agreed. "But I only did the standard tests ... there are still plenty of other procedures I need to run before I can rule out all the pathogens, viruses, and diseases that could cause memory loss."

"You'll work it out," Ronon said with complete confidence. Her intelligence, her ability to think outside the normal and come up with solutions had always impressed him. Sometimes he wondered why someone as smart as her had settled for him ... an ex runner with no formal education. He'd said as much early in their relationship, suggested she and Rodney McKay were a match that made a hell of a lot more sense. She'd laughed and said they'd bore each other stupid inside of a week before grabbing Ronon and kissing him with enough passion to have him forgetting his own name. He'd stopped questioning after that, content to enjoy and protect the woman he loved more than he could find words to describe – a gift he didn't think he'd have again after his years alone.

"Maybe it's just a one off," Jennifer said it in a tone that suggested she didn't really believe it. "John and Teyla have both been working hard to fix all the problems created by the Attero device. Who knows what that kind of stress does over an extended period."

"Maybe," Ronon shrugged. "No point in guessing."

"You're right," Jennifer quickly drained the remaining coffee from her cup and got up. Moving around to his side of the table, she wrapped her arms around his chest from behind, leaning her head down next to his. "I'll see you later," she pressed her cheek to his, sighing quietly and then straightening up.

"Take it easy Doc," Ronon smiled in that way of his when she rolled her eyes at the usual reminder not to work too hard.

"You too," she returned. "If you turn up in my infirmary with sparring injuries today I'm sending you to Doctor Cole."

Chuckling, he nodded, knowing she didn't really mean it. Waving, Jennifer hurried towards the infirmary. She had a mystery to solve.

oOo

"Ronon?" Jennifer's voice was shaky in the darkness. She'd opened her eyes moments before to a scene that was only familiar because of Teyla's description from the previous morning.

Somehow she'd gone to bed after a fruitless day of investigation in the infirmary and woken up in a deserted lab on the other side of the city.

"Ronon?" Jennifer called out again, nerves and fear chasing chills all over her body. She might know where she was but that didn't mean she wasn't still creeped out by the whole thing. Because of Teyla and John's experience she expected Ronon to be there but as the silence continued she began to worry that she was alone ... or worse yet that Ronon was somewhere else, hurt ... or worse.

Staggering to her feet, Jennifer swayed dizzily. "_Teyla didn't mention that_," she thought, struggling with the effects of blood moving too slowly to her head after standing up too fast. She had to keep still for a few moments before she began to feel steady again. Frozen in place like that it still took her a while to realise what she was hearing. Breathing, coming from the floor in the opposite corner.

"Ronon!" Caution forgotten, Jennifer hurried to him, dropping down to his side. In the darkness she couldn't assess his condition by sight. Instead she carefully felt for his face, running her hands over his familiar features but not getting a response from him. He was breathing, and his pulse was steady. In fact there appeared to be nothing wrong with Ronon, except for the fact that she couldn't wake him up.

She needed help ... the darkness was making it impossible for her to do anything for him. Getting to her feet again she stretched out her hands and shuffled forward slowly until she literally bumped into the console in the centre of the room. Hoping that Evan had followed his usual practices and left a radio behind she fumbled blindly, cursing when she brushed against something and heard it crash to the floor.

"Damn," she muttered, dropping to her knees and searching across the cold floor. Fingers brushing plastic, she quickly grabbed up the radio, thumbing the controls and hearing a burst of static. "Oh thank god," she exclaimed, turning the channel dial and trying to raise someone.

"Colonel Sheppard, Major Lorne this is Doctor Keller," she began. "Can you hear me?"

There was nothing, so she turned the dial and repeated the words again.

"Jennifer?" John's puzzled voice greeted her first, followed quickly by Lorne's a moment later. "Jenn – you okay?" the Major asked.

"Yes and no," Jennifer replied. "I don't know how but I think Ronon and I are in your room John – the one you and Teyla woke up in yesterday. Ronon hasn't woken up and it's too dark in here for me to assess him properly."

"We're on our way," John promised, his tone making it clear he was already on the move.

"Under the console Jennifer," Evan instructed. "I left a torch in an empty slot ... can you find it?"

"Hang on," Jennifer put down the radio, knelt and felt quickly along the underside of the console. The torch was a welcome weight in her hands. Switching it on she'd never been gladder to see a beam of light in her life even though the brightness stabbed into her eyes. Grabbing up the radio she spoke. "Thank you Evan!"

"You got it," Evan concluded in satisfaction. "How's Ronon?"

"Ah ...," Jennifer paused in shining the torch on her partner, frowning. "As far as I can tell there's nothing wrong with him," she reported back, her tone worried. "I need to get him under a scanner as soon as possible." She didn't say it but Lorne knew she was thinking about all the reasons Ronon could be unconscious that wouldn't be obvious from the outside.

"We're almost there," John promised, matching his words to actions when he ran into the room a minute later, large torch lighting his way. "Doc," he greeted Jennifer, noting her pale features and worried eyes. Holding up the fold away stretcher he'd grabbed on the way he continued. "As soon as Lorne gets here we'll get Ronon to the infirmary."

"Right behind you Sir," Lorne announced his arrival. Unlike the casual, bedtime attire John had on, Evan was wearing his Atlantis uniform, the shirt rumpled and untucked as though he'd dressed in a hurry. Attempting to smooth his messy hair down he grabbed the other end of the stretcher and helped his CO to place it next to Ronon's unconscious body. They carefully rolled the other man onto the stretcher, Jennifer doing her best not to hover too much. With John at his head and Lorne at his feet the two men lifted Ronon carefully and headed for the door, Jennifer walking quickly beside them.

oOo

"How is he?" John strode into the infirmary at 7am the next morning, quickly spotting Jennifer and heading straight for her.

"Impatient to get out of here," Jennifer replied. Ronon had awoken on his own a few minutes after they'd arrived in the infirmary the night before, while he'd been under the scanner in fact. After a moment of disorientation where Jennifer had been convinced if he'd had his gun he'd have stunned everyone in the room _and_ destroyed the Ancient device, he'd calmed. His expression had gone from confused to angry when he'd realised that Jennifer had been left alone in the dark while he'd apparently slept through whatever had gotten them both down there.

Jennifer had insisted he remain in the infirmary for observation, taking a bed herself in the bay next to his to keep him company. It had been almost 3am by the time they'd settled down to sleep - luckily Jenn was used to the effects of so little sleep, well able to still do her duties.

"Shep," Ronon's voice called out loudly from across the infirmary.

"How you doin' buddy?" John asked, walking over with Jennifer at his shoulder.

"I'm fine," Ronon said insistently, shooting an impatient look at Jennifer. "Ready to go find the bastard behind this and make him regret it."

"You know something we don't?" John asked pointedly.

"No," Ronon grumbled, frowning.

"Look, Rodney was monitoring the room overnight, hoping to get another one of those power surges," John explained. "He's been down there for an hour or so analysing everything – surely he's got something by now.

"Let's go find out," Ronon proposed, looking at Jennifer expectantly.

"Fine, you can go," Jennifer agreed. "But I'm coming with you."

"No you're not," Ronon shot back.

"I was down there pretty much by myself last night Ronon," Jennifer pointed out. "I hardly think going there in the daylight with three men in attendance to protect me is going to be anywhere near as bad."

Ronon frowned but nodded wordlessly. Jennifer went to get his clothes, placing them on the bed as she smoothed the sheets over his legs. "You're sure you feel okay?" she asked. Seeing him unconscious for so long had clearly shaken her ... probably because it had never happened before. Ronon had always been invincible in her eyes and it galled to have that illusion crushed so blatantly. She knew as a doctor it was silly to feel that way ... but in this case it was more Jennifer Keller the woman who was running the show as far as her emotions were concerned.

"I'm fine," Ronon insisted, grabbing her hands and holding on tightly until she looked at him. He let his eyes speak for him, watching as Jennifer read his expression, nodding slowly as she visibly relaxed.

"We'll wait for you outside big guy," John spoke up, having kept silent during their exchange. Nodding towards Jenn's office he waited for her to move before following her, leaving Ronon a little privacy to get dressed. "He'll be fine Doc," John said reassuringly.

"I know ... I just ...," she trailed off awkwardly. "He looked ... smaller somehow ... I don't like seeing him like that."

"We'll work this out Doc," John promised.

"I hope so," she replied.

oOo

"I have no idea what this room is supposed to be for," Rodney began when the three descended on him a short while later. "It's been drawing power intermittently for a couple of days but it doesn't seem to be going anywhere."

"And yet four of us have ended up here in the middle of the night with no memory of how," John said pointedly. "Surely that's not a coincidence."

"I never said it was," Rodney shot back. "Just because I haven't worked out how it works yet doesn't mean I won't."

"Could you do it _before_ anyone else ends up here?" John suggested sarcastically.

"We can rig up some temporary lights Sir," Lorne suggested. "Make sure if it does happen again at least whoever's affected will be able to find their way out of here." He'd appointed himself Rodney's protector, unwilling to let the other man work so far from the main tower alone.

"Do it," John ordered. He didn't like planning for the problem to be ongoing but they'd be stupid to assume it would just go away on its own.

Lorne nodded, touching a hand to Jennifer's shoulder on his way out the door.

"He's worried," Jennifer commented, watching the Major disappear down the corridor.

"We all are Doc," John returned. "So far it's been pretty harmless but it's only a matter of time before someone ends up getting hurt."

"Yeah, and knowing my luck it'll probably be me," Rodney muttered under his breath.

"So, do we know anything useful Rodney?" John questioned.

"Ah ... not really," Rodney admitted. "Radek's trying to trace the power usage coming out of the room but it's a little like trying to track a single raindrop in a thunderstorm."

"Why us?" Ronon's question fell abruptly into the room.

"Sorry?" Rodney's expression was sceptical, his first impulse always to see the Satedan only as a warrior rather than the intelligent man he must be to have survived seven years on his own against the Wraith.

"Is there a reason it was John and Teyla, and then Jenn and I?" Ronon clarified. "Seems a little odd to me."

"It does,' John's eyes narrowed, his mind clearly working the angles.

"What – like some kind of selection criteria?" Rodney queried sharply, his brow furrowed in thought. "The only similarities I can see are hardly going to fit that description. Apart from the fact that your rooms are probably amongst only a handful with more than one occupant. Maybe whatever is doing this needs two people to do whatever it's trying to do." Rodney had his classic 'I'm only playing along with this to humour you' face on ... he might not know what the room did yet but he wasn't buying into any theories that made the 'victims' anything other than random.

"Find out how many multi-occupant rooms we have in the city," John ordered abruptly.

"What ... _me_?" Rodney complained. "No, no, no ... I need to keep researching the data here - get someone else to do it."

"No - you do it Rodney," John insisted impatiently.

"Fine," Rodney muttered, turning back to his laptop and tapping on the keys harder than was strictly necessary.

oOo

"I never realised there were so many people cohabitating here," Rodney announced as he walked into Woolsey's office a few hours later. John, Ronon and Teyla were already there. Jennifer had elected to continue her work in the infirmary, adding the samples she'd collected from herself and Ronon to those she already had from John and Teyla. Major Lorne was also absent, still down in 'The Room' supervising the installation of lights and a radio connection that would work on a generator independent of the Atlantis systems.

"We have in excess of two hundred people living here Doctor," Woolsey pointed out, "and there are no rules against forming attachments, as long as they don't violate the militarie's non fraternisation provisions. It's only natural for people to be drawn together."

"Perhaps it is just that you had little reason to notice before now Rodney," Teyla suggested gently.

"Ah ... I guess it doesn't matter either way," Rodney regrouped. "Aside from you guys and Ronon and Jennifer there are another fifteen couples who've registered for a joint room. There could be more than that of course – they're just the ones we know about."

"More?" Woolsey looked at Rodney questioningly.

"Yeah – um ... people who haven't made it official or um ... one night stands, stuff like that," Rodney actually looked a little embarrassed as he elaborated.

"Of course," Woolsey nodded. "So we assume we have at least 30 people at risk here?"

"At least," Rodney agreed, "although I'm not convinced that really has anything to do with this. We really need to capture one of these events while it's happening. Did Major Lorne have any luck with the security footage?"

"He did," Evan strode into the room on the tail end of Rodney's question. "Sir," he acknowledged his CO, making his report succinctly. "We've got lights, radio and cameras set up – if anything happens tonight we'll capture it. I also took the liberty of setting up a surveillance room on the next floor down ... we won't spook whatever's behind this before we work out who they are but we should be able to get there pretty quickly if it becomes necessary."

"Good work Major," Sheppard complimented his second in command with casual ease.

"What did you find on the video Major?" Woolsey asked expectantly.

"This," Lorne nodded towards Woolsey's laptop, looking for approval to use it for his own purposes. When Woolsey nodded, Evan displayed a video file on the large screen across from the circle of seats, and hit play.

They all watched as a door to someone's quarters slid open and first John and then Teyla appeared. They walked down the corridor together, holding hands, appearing much as they did every day, apart from the fact that they were wearing their night clothes and seemed oblivious to that fact. There was nothing to indicate they were being coerced in way ... it was only when you looked really closely that you realised their eyes looked vacant, as though they were there but not there at the same time.

"That's a little disturbing," John commented, moving instinctively closer to Teyla.

"I have no memory of that," Teyla said, frowning at the screen. The video continued unchanged until the walking couple moved outside of security camera range.

"That's it," Evan said. "I can show you something pretty similar for Jennifer and Ronon but you get the idea."

"Maybe sleepwalking is the answer after all," Rodney suggested weakly.

"_Collective_ sleepwalking?" Evan queried sceptically. "That sounds unlikely McKay."

"You got a better explanation Major?" Rodney shot back.

"No, but that doesn't mean there isn't one," Lorne replied mildly. "I hate to say this but we may have to hope that someone else gets lured to that room tonight. Otherwise we might never find out what caused this."

"Indeed," John agreed, his expression grim.

**Authors Note:**

There are so many wonderful Ronon/Keller writers out there I feel like I almost need to apologise for my attempt to write them ... I did enjoy the challenge of it and I hope I did them enough justice to not spoil the story.


	3. Radek and Katya

**Chapter 3: Radek and Katya**

"Do we want to narrow it down some?" Rodney asked later in the evening. Team Sheppard were having a late dinner as they discussed where the investigation was at, in preparation for the night ahead.

"What, you want to issue an order for everyone to sleep alone tonight?" Sheppard's brow rose sharply. "Who's gonna police that?"

"Isn't that what we've got a military for?" Rodney queried snidely.

"To keep the peace," John countered, "not act as the no dating police! Besides, didn't you want to 'catch them in the act', so to speak? For that we need to test out your theory that it needs more than one person present."

"Should we be issuing some kind of warning then?" Rodney changed tact slightly.

"Since it's hardly threatening bodily harm I think that's overkill," Sheppard decided after thinking about it for a moment. "We don't really have any evidence to suggest there's anything malevolent going on here. Maybe it's just trying to tell us something."

"_Who's _just trying to tell us something?" Lorne approached, nodding towards the empty seat questioningly.

"Join us Major," John invited, shifting slightly to make more room.

"Thank you Sir," Lorne sat, casting a glance around the table. "Who's trying to tell us something?" he asked again.

"Whatever it is that has otherwise normal human beings walking the city in their sleep," Rodney explained. Shooting Evan a sly look, he continued. "It's lucky _you're_ not hooked up Major – given your prior experience with sleepwalking in the city you'd be a prime candidate."

"Yeah ... lucky," Lorne returned dismissively. Turning back to Colonel Sheppard, he got to the reason he'd wanted to talk to his CO. "I stopped in at the infirmary on my way down here. Jennifer hasn't found anything yet but she's not giving up. I tried to get her to come down but she shrugged me off, told me to tell Ronon hello and then went back to ignoring me."

"Hello huh?" Ronon got up abruptly, his intentions clear. "I'll just go and encourage her to take a break," he announced as he turned and strode away.

"That'll be interesting," Evan joked. "My money's on Jennifer ... she's mean when she digs her heels in."

"I don't know," John countered. "Ronon knows a few tricks ... he'll have her thinking a break was her own idea."

Lorne laughed, nodding his agreement.

"Who's taking first watch?" Sheppard asked, referring to Lorne's surveillance schedule for their targeted room.

"I was thinking to do that myself," Evan admitted. "With backup of course."

"Did you get any sleep after Jenn called us this morning?" John asked.

"Ah ... not exactly," Lorne replied with a shrug. "I'm good to go though."

"I don't doubt that Major," John commented, frowning. "Doesn't mean you have to do it all yourself."

"If we can believe the pattern after two nights, whatever this is will be influencing someone new tonight," Lorne said easily. "I want to see it for myself."

"That's what we've got cameras for Major," John pointed out with a faint smirk.

"So ... I assume _you'll_ want to take a turn at watch too Sir?" Evan said, straight-faced.

"Put me down for the one after yours Major," Sheppard said, amused.

"Yes Sir," Evan agreed.

oOo

Nothing happened during Lorne's watch and he reluctantly handed over the reins to Colonel Sheppard at 2am, heading off to his quarters admitting, if only to himself, that he _was_ tired.

Much to John's surprise Rodney insisted on sitting in with him, citing the need to be in the room - get the data first hand to further his research. Sheppard had shrugged – back up was back up, even of the complaining scientist variety.

They'd been sitting in the surveillance room for half an hour when John saw two figures appear at the end of the corridor, cast in the green glow of the infrared cameras they were using.

"Here we go," he said softly, leaning forward slightly, eyes intent on the screen.

They watched as the figures got nearer, becoming more recognisable. They walked as though they could see where they were going even though it was very dark. Dressed much as the others had been the two previous nights – clothing too thin for the cold conditions, feet bare – the couple seemed almost oblivious to their surroundings.

When Rodney switched the camera to the one covering the room's doorway they both saw the faces of the two who entered.

"Huh!" Rodney exclaimed.

"What?" John demanded.

"Oh ... n-nothing," Rodney stuttered slightly. "I'm just surprised that Radek has a girlfriend. He never said anything."

"Maybe they haven't got that far yet," John suggested with a smirk at Rodney's expression of distaste.

"_Please_," he protested. "I can do without those kinds of imagines in my head thank you very much!"

"Who is she?" John asked curiously, watching as Radek seated himself in the middle of the room, a few paces back from the console. He pulled the woman down in front of him, the pair sitting cross legged facing each other, their knees lightly touching.

"Ah ... Karma ... Kata," Rodney snapped his fingers suddenly. "Katya! Doctor Katya Artamova. Systems engineer. Radek brought her in to help with the design of the Puddle Jumper hyperdrive. She worked on the Daedalus with our Asgard friend – came highly recommended."

"She looks more your type," John said jokingly. On the surface it was true – the Russian scientist was blonde, blue eyed, and diminutive – pretty in a businesslike kind of way. She'd be smart too, something Rodney had made no secret of finding attractive.

"She's Russian," Rodney stated as though that were explanation enough. When he realised John was looking at him with a raised brow he explained. "After my first experience with the Stargate they transferred me to Russia. I still have nightmares about that place ... grim ... _very_ grim."

"Radek doesn't seem to have the same problem," John commented, watching as the Czechoslovakian scientist leaned towards Katya until their foreheads were touching. Both had their eyes closed and seemed to be in some kind of meditative state.

Rodney and John both started as abruptly the green glow of the infrared was swamped by white light, blinding them momentarily.

"Switch to normal cameras," John ordered, on his feet, eyes pinned to the screen.

Rodney complied, standing up himself when he saw what was going on in the room. Radek and Katya were enclosed in a column of light ... inside it a swirling disk of brighter, blue tinged light was slowly travelling down their bodies. Their expressions shifted into troubled - discomforted but not in real pain - otherwise both seemed unharmed.

"Is that what I think it is?" John asked.

"If you think it's a version of the Ancient scanner then you'd be correct," Rodney said. He'd tapped into the Atlantis systems and was trying to track the power back to the source. "It's accessing the ZedPM directly but the power usage is minimal. We could pull the plug on it by pulling the ZedPM though which is good to know."

"Shouldn't we go in there and turn it off?" John queried, his expression grimly determined. Based on the previous night he was thinking Radek and Doctor Artamova would probably be okay but still it didn't sit well to leave them at the mercy of the ancient machine.

"Ah – I'm not sure we could," Rodney admitted. He pointed to his laptop, where he'd displayed a diagram of what they were seeing in real life. "The inside seems to be pretty similar to the scanner in the infirmary but this column around the outside is some kind of shield, designed to contain the scan. It's probably for safety but that doesn't help us to turn it off without pulling the ZedPM."

"Then we pull -," John began when as abruptly as it had appeared the light was gone. The walls closest to Radek and Katya's shimmered and shifted as the light floated away and slowly dissipated into nothingness.

Rodney didn't wait for orders this time, switching them back to infrared now the room was dark again. They watched silently as first Katya and then Radek slowly toppled sideways until they were lying together on the floor. As far as John and Rodney could tell they were simply sleeping.

"Turn the lights on in there and call Doctor Keller," John said as he headed out the door. "I'm gonna go wake them up – if we can."

oOo

Whatever had pulled Katya and Radek inside that walking sleep was strong enough that Sheppard had to wait for the latest two victims to wake up on their own. They'd been transferred to the infirmary and examined by Jennifer before that happened. Katya was the first, frowning in confusion when she found herself in the infirmary instead of the bed she'd gone to sleep in.

"What happened?" she looked around, spotting Radek sleeping on the bed next to her, her frown deepening. "Is Radek well?" she added, her voice only faintly accented with shades of Russia.

"You're okay Doctor Artamova," Jennifer moved in to reassure her. "Doctor Zelenka too."

"Then why are we here?" Katya finally noticed Colonel Sheppard and Rodney standing nearby, her face paling slightly. "Have we done something wrong?"

"Of course not," Jennifer put a hand over the scientists, patting it gently. "Let me get Colonel Sheppard over here to explain."

John had only just begun his explanation when Radek awoke, going from asleep to fully awake in an instance. His keen glance took in his surrounds and he immediately looked to Sheppard for information.

The Colonel obliged, taking the story back to the beginning with his own experiences two nights before.

"You say we were scanned?" Radek asked once John was finished, his accent more pronounced the only clue that he was troubled by the night's events.

"From head to toe," Rodney confirmed.

"Why?" Radek met Katya's eyes for a moment before looking back to Rodney as the most likely source for an answer.

"No idea," Rodney admitted. "You don't remember anything?"

"Nothing," Radek confirmed. "The last I recall we had ...," he trailed off, flushing.

Katya smiled slightly, obviously more comfortable with the embarrassing side of their predicament than Radek was. "I too can remember nothing beyond that," she concurred.

"Well, there's no need for either of you to stay here," Jennifer announced.

"I'll organise someone to retrieve some warmer clothes and shoes from your quarters," John offered.

"Thank you Colonel," Katya said graciously. Radek nodded, distracted by his thoughts.

oOo

After they'd both dressed and been cleared to leave the infirmary Radek put a hand on Rodney's arm. "I will escort Katya to her quarters," he said in a low tone. "After – I would like to see the video footage, yes?"

Rodney nodded. "Section five, two floors down from Janus's lab," he said simply.

Nodding, Radek held out an elbow for Katya. She took it and the two walked unhurriedly from the infirmary.

oOo

"What was it looking for?" Radek muttered, rewinding the tape and starting it again.

"I don't know," Rodney said irritably, "and watching it for the fifty first time isn't going to give us the answer!"

"The information collected must have gone somewhere," Radek insisted, swivelling slightly to access the ancient systems again.

"And as soon as we isolate the subroutine running the show we'll find out where," Rodney replied impatiently, clearly having said the same thing at least once already. "Listen ... I hate to say it but I'm tired. Maybe we should come back to this tomorrow."

"You go Rodney," Radek said absently, eyes still on the screen.

"No, no, ...," Rodney backpedalled. "It's still early." He refocussed, not to be outdone by the other scientist.

Radek nodded, muttering to himself in Czech as he turned his attention back to the video again.

"So ... how long have you been seeing Doctor Artamova?" Rodney asked.

"A month, maybe two," Radek said distractedly. "Tonight was our first ...," he trailed off, letting Rodney work it out for himself.

"Well, she's certainly going to remember it now," Rodney pointed out weakly.

"I would like to think she would have anyway Rodney," Radek said, exasperated.

"Right, of course," Rodney stuttered awkwardly. He let the silence go for a moment before speaking again. "Well anyway ... I ah ... I'm happy you found someone," he said, uncomfortable with the implied social intimacy but feeling compelled to say something anyway.

"I have you to thank for it, to a certain extent," Radek surprised him by admitting. "I'm sorry Rodney but, were it not for your experiences with Doctor Brown I probably wouldn't have acted. When Katya arrived a few months ago ... I couldn't help but think about it and well ... it seems that time should not be wasted, yes?"

"Ah ... I guess," Rodney shifted uncomfortably, shooting Radek a quick look before directing his gaze back to the screen. "Well um ... hopefully this experience won't have put Doctor Artamovo off."

"Katya has a very enquiring mind," Radek said almost proudly. "I suspect she has already given thought to how such a scanning device would be created."

"Sexy brainy?" Rodney couldn't help but ask.

"Oh yes," Radek grinned. "Jeden ostrý mysl is dokonalý horký, ano?"

"I'll ah ... I'll take your word for it," Rodney returned with a grimace. When Radek resorted to his native language it usually meant you didn't want to know.

oOo

"What troubles me the most is that whatever is going on here, it has the ability to control our minds," Woolsey said. "To the point Doctor Zelenka and his companion were able to navigate unfamiliar corridors in the dark. How do you explain that?"

"I can't explain it," Jennifer admitted. They were in the large conference room, all of those who'd been affected so far along with Rodney, Major Lorne, and Richard Woolsey. "I did a brain scan on both Radek and Doctor Artamova only minutes after their experience and found nothing out of the ordinary. There's no pathogen, or virus or anything else foreign to the human body that the Ancient systems are capable of picking up to explain this." She hesitated and then finished it. "It's as though we were all hypnotised somehow."

"Is that even possible while you're asleep?" Rodney asked disbelievingly.

"Before this I would have said no," Jennifer admitted, "but at this stage I can't see any other explanation that makes sense."

"What about the ones that don't make sense," John muttered, getting a raised eyebrow from Teyla for his troubles. "Sorry," he said.

"So ... what do we do next?" Lorne asked. "Is there any way we can find out what information the scan collected?"

"Already working on it Major," Rodney said smugly. "I've got my best people digging through millions of lines of code – everything that was running somewhere in the city at 2:30am this morning. Once we've crossed out everything we know should have been running, whatever's left will be our little scanning subroutine. Once we've isolated it we'll be able to see where it sent whatever it was it sent." It was vague – he knew it – but they didn't have a lot to go on, forcing him to speculate and gloss over things in the absence of real details.

"How long is that likely to take?" Woolsey asked.

"Ah ... a day, maybe two," Rodney said uncertainly. When Richard raised an eyebrow in surprise, Rodney shrugged. "A million lines of code," he restated. "Not exactly a walk in the park."

"So we still need a plan for tonight, assuming this happens again," John concluded grimly.

"Right," Rodney nodded. "And anything we do is going to be next to useless since we can't really predict who'll be next – and there are still too many potential candidates."

"We just have to let it happen again?" Lorne frowned, not liking that idea.

"Unless you have a better idea, yes," Rodney confirmed.

"Great," Evan looked at Sheppard. "Permission to take the 2am watch Sir?" he asked hopefully.

"Denied Major," John said immediately. "You're rostered off tonight ... let someone else take over. You get some sleep – we all need to be ready for tomorrow night – assuming Rodney has something we can try by then."

"Because of course it all comes down to me!" Rodney muttered grumpily.

"That's right," John grinned unrepentently.

"I'll see if I can come up with something we can use to retain some awareness during the hypnosis too," Jennifer added. "Assuming we get to the stage where we can direct attention in a specific direction we might need a way to take control."

"Good idea," Woolsey agreed. "All right everyone ... it's business as usual until we find out more about what the scan was looking for. You should all take any opportunity to get some sleep before tonight." It was a given that they were all assuming something _would_ happen.

Meeting concluded, everyone rose and left the room. Lorne and Sheppard were the last to leave, Evan stopping his CO just inside the door.

"You sure I can't do surveillance tonight Sir?" he asked hopefully.

"Lorne," John looked at him pointedly. "Go - do what you normally do! I have a feeling there'll be plenty of chances to miss out on your sleep before this thing is over."

"Yes Sir," Lorne agreed reluctantly.

**Authors Note**:

Translation of Radek's Czechoslovakian from translation-guide dot com - "A sharp mind is very hot, yes?" *Grins* How am I doing here? I know - it's not very scary LOL.


	4. Evan and Laura

**Chapter 4: Evan and Laura**

He shouldn't have done it. With everything that was going on in the city Lorne _knew_ he was skirting the edges of discovery but when Colonel Sheppard had said 'do what you normally do' his thoughts had turned immediately to Laura. They'd been interrupted when Jennifer had called two nights before – Laura had thought it the height of amusing to see him scrambling into his uniform at two in the morning and he'd counted himself lucky no one had seen it as odd when he'd turned up fully dressed and with hair that proclaimed pretty loudly that someone had been running their fingers through it.

Evan hadn't been able to see Laura at all the previous night and didn't want to make it two nights in a row. The Daedalus would be returning to Earth in a week, taking Laura with it – they didn't have much time before they'd be separated again for 6 weeks.

It was a crappy way to run a relationship but Evan had quickly worked out shortly after meeting Laura that he wouldn't have a choice. For him it had been instant attraction followed pretty quickly by something a lot deeper. It still surprised him that he hadn't tried to ignore it or push aside what he knew he was feeling. Maybe he'd been taken with outstubborning Laura to begin with - determined that he'd get her to look at him in a different light because she'd been so determined _not_ to - that before he knew it he was in too deep to _want_ to get out.

A relationship between them wasn't against regs ... Laura was a marine stationed on the Daedalus. She reported to Colonel Caldwell which put her as far outside Lorne's chain of command as she could get while still seeing some time in Atlantis. No - they didn't _need_ to keep it a secret but it had been more than a year from meeting Laura to convincing her to give them a real chance. Evan hadn't wanted to jeopardise that by protesting too much when she'd asked him not to tell anyone they were together. Now, after a year of that everything had become a jumbled mess of secrecy. He loved Laura and he had to believe she loved him too, even though she'd never said as much. Yet they were still creeping around the city, leaving each other's quarters in the early hours, and pretending they were nothing more than friends whenever they were with their colleagues.

It was a situation that had grown steadily more annoying ... despite all his attempts to convince her otherwise, Laura had consistently insisted they needed to remain a secret, citing what Lorne considered to be an incredibly ridiculous argument that it would make things easier when they broke up if no one knew they'd been together in the first place. That usually had him responding in one of two ways ... with anger or determination. If it was anger he'd give Laura the stoney Lorne face and a few days of space that ended up being just as hard on him as it was on her. And if it was determination ... well, then he did whatever it took to convince Laura that as far as _he_ was concerned they weren't breaking up ... _ever_. Needless to say, Evan had put a lot of thought into how he was going to fix it, contrive for the truth to be revealed without it being his fault.

Waking up in a circle of light in his pyjamas with Laura sitting in his lap hadn't made the top of his list.

Lorne had noticed the pattern of course ... that in three nights it had only been couples who'd taken a midnight walk against their will. And at the back of his mind he'd known he and Laura were at risk, even if no one else had them on the list ... but for some reason he'd thought it sensible to decide it was unlikely they'd be the next ones affected. Until he'd come to in 'The Room' of course. Then it seemed pretty bloody stupid on his part to have put them both at risk by asking Laura to stay ... something he knew he'd cop flak from Laura about once she worked out that he'd known what was going on in the city and hadn't told her.

"Damn," he muttered, turning his head to take in their current situation. Someone had turned on the lights he himself had seen rigged up ... and wasn't that another thing to chuckle ironically at, that in his efforts to help someone else he'd ended up helping himself! He probably wouldn't much time before whoever was on watch showed up ... looking around Evan noticed immediately that things were different this time. He'd watched the footage from Radek's night time stroll ... instead of waking up on the floor with Laura already awake ahead of him, Lorne was sitting, his legs crossed. They were inside the column of white light he'd seen on Radek's video but there was no sign of the extra bright scanning lights. Looking down at the woman in his arms highlighted the second difference.

Radek and Katya had sat facing each other, only their knees touching. Evan held Laura firmly on his lap – he couldn't know whether they'd started out like that but it felt like a protective embrace to him, like he's been trying to keep Laura safe from ... something. What, he didn't know. She seemed to be asleep ... Evan touched a hand to her cheek gently. Her eyelids fluttered and she sighed lightly, nestling her head more comfortably against his chest. The way she whispered his name would have been the final straw for anyone observing them still in doubt about the nature of their relationship.

"Laura," he shook her lightly, hoping she'd wake up before anyone arrived. "Honey - last chance to stop me from blurting out our entire history," he said, his mouth at her ear so that only she would hear him.

She didn't wake up, leaving all the decisions to him. Standing up, Laura's slight body held lightly in his arms, Evan shifted so that he could check out the light surrounding them, see if it was something they could get through. Reaching out a hand he edged carefully closer.

"_Fuck!_" he pulled his fingers away, shaking his hand and grimacing at the painful tingling, hanging on to his precious cargo through grim determination. "Just so you know," he told Laura even though he knew she probably couldn't hear him, "that _really_ hurt."

"That's because it's a shield Major," Rodney McKay strode into the room, looking like someone had just dragged him out of bed. Colonel Sheppard was one step behind him – the way Rodney shot him a glare made it clear John had been the one doing the waking.

"Sir," Evan straightened, greeting his CO as though being found in his pyjamas with a woman in his arms happened every other day. Inside he was thinking that it just _had_ to be his CO and McKay who'd had front row seats while his personal life was being plastered all over the surveillance footage. It couldn't have been one of his own subordinates that Evan could later order to keep quiet about the details ... no, it was one of only a few people on Atlantis he _couldn't_ order around, and McKay who didn't know how to keep quiet to save himself. This would be all over the city before daybreak. The only good news was that he could hear them okay and they could hear him. The shield was clearly only designed to keep people in or out, not everything else.

"At ease Evan," John said in amusement. "Given the circumstances I think we can drop the military protocol for the time being."

"Yes Sir," Evan grimaced, realised what he'd said and then shrugged. "Sorry."

"What do you remember about your evening Major?" Rodney asked, his laptop hooked up to the control console and his fingers flying over the keys.

"Ah," Evan glanced down at Laura, shifting her slightly to ease the strain on his arms. If she would just wake up this would all be a lot easier.

"Off the record, if that helps," John added. "Not that it needs to be."

"Okay," Evan steeled himself resolutely. If Laura protested he'd just have to think of some way to make it up to her. "Laura came to my quarters at 1900 hours last night – I'd guess we were asleep by around 2300 hours ... I'll let you fill in the blanks. Next thing I know I'm waking up here."

"You don't remember walking here, or being scanned?" Rodney asked.

"Ah ... no," Evan returned. "Was it the same as Radek's?"

"Rodney's gonna play the video so you can see it for yourself," Sheppard replied.

"Okay, but you'll have to bring the screen a little closer," Evan said. "In case you haven't noticed, it's a little bright in here." He could see okay but the edges of everything were a little blurry with reflected light.

Something drew his attention to the door before Rodney could comply and he groaned silently. "You called _Jennifer_?" he tone was just shy of accusing as he looked at Rodney and John. Jennifer rolled her eyes, putting her kit on the floor beside the control console and removing her portable medical scanner.

"You're trapped inside a big glowy column of light Major," John pointed out. "Medical attention kind of goes with the territory."

"Right," Evan sighed, knowing his night was about to get a lot harder. "Hey Doc," he greeted Jenn with a weak smile.

"Major," Jennifer stood only a step away from the edge of his prison, her expression bland. "I see there are a few things you haven't shared with your friends," she said, eyes on the readout she was getting.

"Jenn," Evan waited until she looked up. "I'm sorry," he said sincerely. "I'm not blaming Laura but if had been entirely up to me I would have told you about us."

"We can talk about that later," Jennifer dismissed. "For now I need to know how you're feeling - the shield is blocking me from scanning you."

"I'm fine," Evan insisted. "It's Laura I'm worried about."

"Any signs of consciousness from her?" Jenn asked, back to concerned doctor mode.

"She said my name just after I woke up," Evan revealed. "If I didn't know better I'd say she was just sleeping. Except for the fact that she _never_ sleeps this deeply."

"Sounds similar to our experiences with Radek and Katya," Jennifer said reassuringly. "Don't worry – I'm sure she'll wake up on her own soon."

"Can we make that before my arms fall off?" he joked, trying to rotate his shoulders to ease the strain. Laura wasn't heavy but if you carried it for long enough even the lightest pack would weigh you down eventually.

"Oh for god's sake," Rodney exclaimed. "Just sit down Major ... it's not that hard!"

"Yes – don't stand on ceremony on our account," Sheppard added, his smirk firmly in place.

"Right," Evan nodded, carefully lowering himself back to the ground while making sure that no part of Laura brushed even close to the edges of their glowing prison. He was painfully aware of three sets of eyes watching as he gently arranged Laura back in his lap, her head nestled against his chest.

"Yes, very touching," Rodney said irritably. "Can we get back to how you got in there now?"

"Show me the video," Evan motioned with his head for the other man to bring it over. For once Rodney did as requested without further complaint.

It was a surreal experience to watch yourself doing things you had no recollection of doing. His prior self had his arm around Laura, the two of them walking unhurriedly towards their present location. Once there they had followed the same path as Radek. Evan had sat down first and then urged Laura to sit across from him.

That's where things went south. He felt a wave of useless adrenalin coursing over him as he watched the column they were now trapped inside rise from the floor to surround their prior selves. The ring of brighter light began from the roof, moving swiftly downwards. As soon as it touched Laura she began to writhe as though in pain. Evan shifted uncomfortably as he watched his own reaction. He'd leapt off the floor, grabbing Laura's hands and shifting her into the centre of the column. Moving behind her, he had literally used himself as a shield, folding her against him and crouching so that she was protected – the light unable to touch her directly. It didn't stop the scan and it was Evan who began to exhibit clear signs of being in pain. He made himself watch as his prior self held on, his expression grimly determined until the circle of light faded ... then his body slumped back slightly, Laura still held in his lap ... the two of them asleep. He watched himself wake up only a moment later before Rodney stopped the replay.

There was a moment of silent before Lorne roused himself. "Well, I guess that explains how we got here," he said lightly.

"It seemed like you were aware of what was going on," Jennifer commented. "You really don't remember any of that?"

"Not a thing," Evan admitted. "Like I said it was off to bed one instance and then the next I'm waking up here."

"So it was instinct taking over," Rodney surmised.

"I guess," Evan waited for a moment, expecting some further comment but getting none. "So what now? Are you gonna turn this thing off so we can get out of here?"

"All in good time Major," Rodney returned.

"Oh come _on_ McKay! I'm cold and tired and ..." Evan looked down at Laura, still sleeping and then back to the scientist. "And I need to get Laura out of here ... preferably _before_ she wakes up and realises we've turned into a side show!"

"You said if we pulled the ZPM it'd switch everything off," John reminded Rodney. He empathised with Evan – if it were he and Teyla in there like that John would be more than a little worried too.

"It _will_," Rodney insisted. "The only problem with that is it'll in all likelihood wipe any record of Major Lorne's experiences as well. We know something was different this time – if we don't take the time to study why it'll take us that much longer to work this out."

"How long?" Evan asked with a resigned sigh.

"I just need to download the most recent logs," Rodney said, tapping a few keys and then hitting enter with a smug expression. "Shouldn't take more than a few minutes," he added.

"Right," Evan shifted again, resettling Laura in his lap.

"So, how long has this been going on?" John said with a faint smirk. His 2IC was traditionally a professional facade behind which who knew what kind of emotions and thoughts lurked. He didn't get rattled and he didn't fly off the handle. In fact this was the first time Sheppard could remember seeing the more personal side of the Major. It had taken a bizarre set of circumstances to reveal it and John was curious to see how much he could get out of Evan before the mask was reasserted.

"For me – since we met," Evan shrugged. There was no point in prevaricating – they'd all seen the video. "Once Laura was permanently stationed on the Daedalus it took me a while to convince her so I guess officially, just over a year."

"You've been sneaking around with Laura Cadman for over a year without getting caught?" Rodney asked, surprised and a little impressed.

"It's not that hard if you know what you're doing," Evan explained. "Laura's only in the city two weeks out of eight so that probably helped. Lately I've been thinking getting caught would solve a lot of my problems ... this is a little over the top though."

"Evan Lorne and Laura Cadman – who would have thought?" Sheppard smirked. "How about we keep this to ourselves ... just until I can get my bet into the pool?"

"You're not ... angry Sir?" Evan had to ask. He respected John more than any other commanding officer he'd ever served under. Not telling him something so important could be taken as a lack of respect, not the message he wanted to convey.

"That you didn't tell me?" John queried. Evan nodded wordlessly. "No – what you do in your own time is your business Major, as long as it doesn't violate the regs. Do I think you _should_ have told me? Sure, but I think I get why you didn't." He shared a conspiratorial look with Lorne. "Women can make your life pretty damn difficult if they set their minds to it, can't they?"

"They can," Evan agreed, eyes twinkling with humour. "Thank you Sir."

"You're welcome," Sheppard returned. "And its John, remember. How any times do I have to tell you to drop the military protocol when we're off duty?"

"A few more times yet ... Sir," Evan replied, straight faced.

"Evan?" Laura's confused voice had Lorne's eyes shooting to her. She blinked a few times, frowning, and then opened her eyes fully, taking in the scene instantly. "Please tell me this is just a bad dream," she begged in a low tone, her green eyes locked to his blue ones.

"Sorry Honey," Evan brushed a strand of hair back from her face. "This is as real as it gets."

"Oh God," she buried her head in his chest, realised how that would look to her audience and quickly straightened again.

"Relax Lieutenant," Sheppard said lightly.

"That's a little hard under the circumstances, Sir," Laura replied. She looked closely at Evan, noting that he didn't seem concerned beyond their being trapped. "I want to get up," she told him.

"Sure," Lorne shifted to free his hold, "just don't touch the barrier."

"Hurts?" Laura looked at him closely as she put her feet firmly on the floor and used his shoulder to push herself up.

"Like a sonofabitch," Evan admitted, getting up behind her with one arm still around her just in case she wasn't as steady as she was expecting.

"Oh," Laura swayed, grabbing at his shoulder.

"Laura?" Evan and Jennifer's concerned voices overlapped.

"I'm okay," Laura straightened, shifting away from Evan slightly so that she was standing unaided. "Just a head rush ...," she looked at Evan, "and am I the only one with a killer headache?"

"Nope," Evan smiled, delighting in seeing the no nonsense Laura Cadman reasserting herself.

"_Evan_," Jennifer glared at him. "I asked you how you were feeling and you said you were okay!"

"He's a guy Jenn," Laura pointed out with a teasing look. "Admit no pain and all that."

"Like you're any better!" Evan shot back. "Isn't the Marines motto something like unless you're in pain you're not trying hard enough?"

"Very funny," Laura was used to his teasing. Patting his chest she turned and looked around, narrowing her eyes as she stepped closer to the edge of the shield. "So, apart from being outed by an ancient machine, what else did I miss? And when are we getting out of here?"


	5. Hericus and Lore

**Chapter 5: Hericus and Lore**

It took longer than Lorne was happy with but eventually Rodney had what he needed and radioed one of his people to go and pull the ZedPM. In the intervening time Evan had explained the full situation to Laura, getting exactly the classic Cadman glare he'd expected that he hadn't mentioned what had been going on at night before they'd been caught up in it's effects.

"And there's nothing in common between the incidents, apart from it being couples?" Laura confirmed, frowning.

"Not that we can tell," Jennifer replied.

Laura started to shiver slightly, her attire not suited to an hour spent standing bare foot on a cold floor.

"Here," Evan made to remove his shirt – he didn't care if he had to stand there bare-chested as long as she was warm enough.

"Don't even think about it," Laura put a hand over his. "I'm halfway to frozen but it's not gonna kill me." Her eyes twinkled as she shot him a teasing grin. "Just be thankful it _was_ cold tonight otherwise we'd have revealed a lot more than we already have – assuming stopping to put some clothes on was out of the question."

"_Laura_," Evan flushed, noticing Jennifer trying not to laugh.

"_Evan_," Laura retorted. "We came down here together in the middle of the night and you've already told everyone how long that's been going on. I don't think anyone's gonna be shocked to hear that I usually sleep naked."

"Fine, since we're being all open here I guess _I_ can tell everyone how many times you've said no!" She'd gone from swearing him to secrecy on pain of death to cavalierly airing their intimacy in public which struck him as particularly ... annoying. It was close to 3 am and Evan was cold too ... that had him letting some of his frustration show which he immediately regretted. Gathering Laura close he rubbed his hands up and down her arms. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"It's okay," Laura said softly. "I know you just want to get us out of here," she looked across to where Jennifer stood watching them, helpless to do anything until the shield was lowered. "Evan doesn't like waiting for someone else to fix his problems," the Lieutenant stated something everyone in the room already knew. Looking up at her partner she continued "and for the record _Major_, 'not yet' doesn't mean 'no'."

"Have you got any idea what they're talking about?" Rodney muttered to John, an unwilling witness to the personal exchange, eyes half on his computer and half on the scene in front of him.

"Not really," John admitted.

"You two are hopeless," Jennifer exclaimed. "It's obvious that Evan asked Laura to marry him and she said not yet ... more than once from the sounds of it."

"Really?" Rodney looked at Evan in surprise. "You want to hook yourself up to Cadman forever – no offence Lieutenant."

"None taken McKay," Laura smirked. "Amazes the heck out of me too."

"See, now you're just making me angry," Evan glared over at Rodney who gulped and quickly bent back to his laptop. Pinning Laura with an intent gaze Evan continued. "We'll be talking about this again ... once we're out of here."

"Fine," Laura barely restrained herself from shivering, this time not because of the cold. Evan Lorne all angry and purposeful was a serious turn on ... "_not the time Laura_," she mentally reminded herself.

"We could make a killing with this kind of information," John told Rodney in a low tone, smirk firmly in place.

"You're the military leader," Rodney pointed out. "Isn't it your job to stomp on that kind of thing?"

"Morale McKay," Sheppard said smugly. "It's all about morale."

"We're ready to pull the ZPM Doctor McKay," a nervous voice reported in over the radio just as Rodney made to reply.

"Did anyone think to just try turning this thing off?" Laura asked before Rodney could tell them to proceed.

Evan looked at John who then looked at Rodney. "Did we?" he asked.

"Ah ... no," Rodney admitted. "You try it – your super gene usually works when nothing else does."

Frowning, Sheppard concentrated on thinking off ... but nothing happened. Evan and Laura were still trapped. "You try," he told Lorne.

"Okay," Evan looked sceptical but closed his eyes and gave it as much focus as he could muster.

"You did it!" Laura's voice had his eyes snapping open in surprise even as she hugged him exuberantly.

"What do you know!" He frowned, looking over at Rodney. "Should I have been able to do that?"

"I don't know ... maybe," Rodney said uncertainly. "Could be because you were on the inside ... some kind of fail safe, maybe."

"Well whatever it was, they're free now and due in my infirmary," Jennifer said insistently.

"We're fine," Evan and Laura spoke in unison.

"Let's leave diagnosing to the experts," Jennifer countered.

"This is payback because we kept our relationship a secret, isn't it?" Laura narrowed her eyes at her friend suspiciously.

"I would never sink that low Laura," Jennifer said piously.

"Do you believe that?" Laura asked under her breath as she and Evan followed the doctor from the room.

"Not for a second," Lorne returned just as quietly.

oOo

"Okay, I know what the room was trying to do, including why it didn't release Major Lorne and Lieutenant Cadman," Rodney announced late the following afternoon. "Unfortunately the why doesn't really enlighten us a great deal."

The conference room was busier than usual ... in addition to team Sheppard, Woolsey and Doctor Keller, Radek Zelenka, Katya Artamova and Laura Cadman were also in attendance.

"What did you find out Doctor?" Woolsey asked patiently.

"It's a myth," Rodney said simply.

"A myth?" Sheppard asked uncertainly.

"Am I not speaking aloud?" Rodney shot back. "Yes ... _a_ _myth_. Teyla and Ronon might even know of it." Tapping out a command on his laptop, Rodney brought an image to the display screen for them all to see. "This is Hericus and Lore," he said, nodding at the hand drawn picture of a man and woman standing arm in arm, dressed in ancient attire. "They're reputed to have lived in the city 15,000 years ago, before the Wraith when life here was probably pretty idyllic. As the myth goes, they discovered something sinister while out on a romantic rendezvous through the outskirts of the city. After a pretty scary night they managed to trap it 'behind the veil between worlds' – that's what the ancient database called it. As the legend goes once every two thousand years the veil thins and the creature reaches through to seek its revenge."

"Looking for this Hericus and Lore?" Woolsey asked disbelievingly.

"Apparently," Rodney shrugged. "It's a myth – pointing out that they've been dead for thousands of years doesn't exactly lend itself to drama."

"And yet the fact remains that couples _have_ been lured from their rooms in the dead of night," Teyla pointed out mildly.

"You've heard of the myth?" John asked her curiously.

"I have," Teyla admitted. "It is a much told story popular with young women on many worlds I have visited." Ronon nodded wordlessly ... he'd heard the legend on his home planet years ago.

"When is this veil supposed to thin?" Sheppard asked.

"I'm glad you asked! This is the good bit," Rodney said with a smirk. "Based on the date in the database for the origns of the myth, translating things to our calendar and taking into account the longer days here, my best guess is October 31st."

"Tomorrow night," Laura said.

"_Halloween_?" Jennifer spoke at the same time, her tone disbelieving.

"Yeah, I know – that's some coincidence, right," Rodney retorted.

"Halloween?" Ronon asked, looking to Jennifer for an explanation. He'd discovered there were a lot of things people from Earth celebrated, including some that made little sense - it was a little hard to keep track.

"Ghosts and monsters, trick or treat," John reminded him. "Not something we celebrate much here but it's pretty big back on Earth."

Lorne had listened intently, keeping quiet as Rodney explained his findings. "You said you'd worked out why Laura and I weren't released like everyone else," he reminded the scientist.

"Ah, right," Rodney motioned back to the hand drawn images on the screen. "It's a little hard to see just based on this but ... I'm guessing it held on to you Major because there's a physical resemblance between you and Hericus. Based on physical stats it's almost uncanny ... that combined with the fact that you have the gene, _and_ played the hero in stopping it scanning the Lieutenant before it could work out she _doesn't_ caused it to hang on to you ... I think."

"Whatever is controlling this thinks that _we're_ Hericus and Lore?" Evan glanced at Laura worriedly before looking Rodney in the eye. "Is that what you're suggesting?"

"Pretty much," Rodney admitted. "Look, it's just a myth. I haven't confirmed it yet but I think we're looking at a malfunctioning subroutine that's tapped into a children's story and is now behaving accordingly. Sure, its accessing a number of other systems, some we didn't even know were there, but there's no sinister being waiting on the other side of some barrier to come and pounce on us!"

"If that's the case, why did it shut off the shield just because Evan asked nicely?" Sheppard asked.

"I don't know!" Rodney protested. "What part of 'malfunctioning' do you not get?!"

"And the hypnotic state," Woolsey added. "How does a malfunctioning system achieve that?"

"It is the Ancients," Radek said as though that were explanation enough. "We've barely scratched the surface of their capabilities."

"And it is not without precedence," Katya volunteered. "The Puddle Jumpers ... their neural interface technology does something similar. It is not inconceivable for control to be given to the system rather than its operator."

"I ran the same tests on Evan and Laura as I've run on the rest of us," Jennifer revealed. "I hate to say it but from a medical standpoint there's nothing that explains this. No unusual brain wave patterns, no evidence of increased stimulus. Certainly nothing chemical or pathological. I'm fresh out of ideas beyond concluding that whatever's responsible for getting us down to that room, it's completely external."

"So we've got an Ancient myth and a malfunctioning system capable of making us walk around in our sleep," Sheppard summarised. "What's gonna happen next?"

"I'm not omnipotent," Rodney said impatiently, "but if I had to guess I'd say we're done with the random couples being lured down there part. Now it thinks it's found what it's looking for it'll move on to the revenge part of the myth – whatever that is."

"Great," Evan muttered grimly.

"It might be nothing," Rodney pointed out. "Just because whatever's behind this can access enough systems to get you down there doesn't mean it can impersonate a 15,000 year old monster."

"It can control us McKay," Lorne said, exasperated. "That doesn't concern you just a little?"

"Don't worry Major," Sheppard put in, his tone confident. "Rodney will disable this subroutine thing before we need to worry about that."

"He will?" Rodney queried in surprise. He caught sight of John's pointed look. "Right, yes, yes, of course I will." Standing he motioned to Radek. "Come on Zelenka ... Doctor Artamoya, you too," he ordered impatiently, not waiting for them to follow before he disappeared out the door.

oOo

"It's an interesting myth," John commented to Teyla, walking with her towards the Mess Hall a short time later.

"Yes," Teyla said simply. "Rodney did not convey the ... flavour of the story."

"Tell me," John invited, pulling out a chair for her and then sitting down beside her.

"Very well," Teyla smiled, shifting so that she would watch him as she told the familiar story. "Hericus was a soldier ... charged with protecting the city of Atlantis and the people of this galaxy," she began, her voice soft and melodious. "Dedicated and honest, he allowed no time for forming personal attachments beyond the bonds of friendship with his colleagues. Atlantis was a place of reflection and study ... great minds exploring the meaning of existence. Hericus believed that his purpose was solely to protect those who would drive the direction their race would develop in."

"Sounds like someone we know," Sheppard commented, thinking of his 2IC.

"Yes ... Evan bears more than just a physical similarity with Hericus," Teyla agreed. "In that regard I believe he models himself on you John."

"Maybe," John shrugged self deprecatingly. "So Hericus was a career soldier. Go on."

"He was," Teyla smiled faintly, amused as always at his inherent modesty. "Lore was the opposite ... a scholar who only fought when pressed by circumstances to do so. She was strong and confident and spoke her mind ... and when those close to her were threatened, would fight just as fiercely as any warrior."

"Again, sounds a lot like Cadman," John said, "apart from the scholar thing."

"Laura is much interested in academic matters John," Teyla corrected him. "I believe she is studying to further her skills even now."

"She is?" John was surprised, only because Cadman wasn't under his direct command and Colonel Caldwell hadn't mentioned it. Frowning as the thought occurred to him, he spoke before Teyla could answer. "You know ... when you think about it, those descriptions fit each side of the couples this thing chose to examine. I'm military and you're the leader of your people. Ronon's the biggest warrior of us all and Jenn could _be_ Lore from what you said. Even Radek and Katya – he served in his countries military and she's as academic as it gets. Maybe the fact that it was us wasn't random at all."

"Perhaps," Teyla agreed. "Although the obvious question then becomes how did this information about all of us become available to the subroutine Rodney spoke of?"

"Well, putting on my 'Rodney' hat I'd say it's because all the systems are interconnected," John replied. "Most of that information is public record ... hell, our security scans, personnel records, mission reports – they're all backed up in the Ancient database ... just in case." He let that sink in for both of them before looking at her expectantly. "So, Hericus and Lore – not an obvious match on the surface. How'd they hook up?"

"They 'hooked up' as you call it when Hericus was charged with protecting Lore during an off world journey," Teyla continued with her story. "An unexpected storm blew in shortly after their arrival. Lore was separated from the rest of the party and Hericus braved the conditions for hours in an effort to find her. When he did she was gravely ill. He carried her back to Atlantis and stayed by her side until she regained consciousness. They fell in love but Hericus did not believe that he was good enough for Lore. She persisted until eventually he agreed to try, but only on the understanding that their relationship remain a secret."

"Ooh, that's interesting," John's brow rose sharply. "Is it only me or does that feel like the kind of coincidence that has chills running down your spine?"

"It is a ... disturbing similarity," Teyla agreed. "I believe for Hericus it was due to his belief that Lore would eventually see him for what he believed he was – a simple warrior – and realise that they did not belong together. Lore agreed because to do otherwise would mean she could not be with the man she loved. They were together for many months ... it was not a smooth relationship as each was strongly held of their opinions. One night they went walking in the late evening. Lore discovered something unusual in the outskirts of the city and moved immediately to investigate. Hericus believed they should wait for others before proceeding. Lore didn't listen, storming off and forcing Hericus to run after her. When he caught her they argued fiercely – Hericus determined that she would take her direction in matters of strength from him and Lore convinced that he did not trust her intellect."

Teyla stopped for a moment, her expression thoughtful as she considered the rest of the story. "It is said that beyond this world exists another where evil resides in hideous forms, intent only on destruction and dominance. In their anger Hericus and Lore weakened the veil between worlds, allowing an evil presence to sense them. It could not come through completely – it needed them to give in to their anger, to destroy their love with words and actions before the veil could lift completely. Lore sensed the truth first ... the battle was as much about getting Hericus to see it too as it was about them sending evil back behind the veil. She made herself vulnerable, gave him her love unconditionally, intent on sacrificing herself to close the breach just to save him. Only then did he truly believe that she really did love him. At that moment their strength was multiplied beyond the sum of their abilities. Together they forced the evil creature back and trapped it in a cage of the same material as the barrier. They knew that letting it roam freely would spell disaster, that it's knowledge of their existence would drive it forever to seek entry to this world."

"Do you believe it really happened that way?" John asked after a few moments of quiet reflection, taking one of her hands in his and stroking it absently.

"I do not know," Teyla admitted. "For me it was always a tale encouraging young girls to be strong, to fight for what they believed was important."

"It's a story about love too," John pointed out, his eyes locked on hers. "It'd be easy to let the harshness of existence in this galaxy stop you from pursuing a normal life ... why bother forming relationships when a Wraith culling could be just around the corner?"

"You believe it encourages us to 'further the species' – to ensure our future existence?" Teyla looked dismayed by the thought.

"No!" John held her hands firmly now. "I think at the heart it means that love is never a waste of time ... that it can mean more than just two people being together so they don't have to be alone. Love is the thing that distinguishes us from evil like the Wraith – the capacity to put someone ahead of yourself even when it means you die so they can live. That aspect of humanity is what we're here fighting to protect."

"You surprise me sometimes John Sheppard," Teyla put her hands on his shoulders and pulled him forward until their foreheads touched. They held that pose for a few moments before she pulled back, moving her hands to his face and leaning in to kiss him.

"That's a good thing right?" John asked after she'd pulled away again.

"It is," Teyla agreed with a loving smile.

"I hate to interrupt your romantic scene here," Rodney's voice was a harsh intrusion, "but we've made some progress you need to know about."

"What is it McKay?" John turned to glare at the scientist, as much for his faintly mocking words as for his interruption.

"We've isolated the code running when Lorne and Cadman were scanned last night," Rodney explained, "and found something you're not gonna like."

"Just give it to me Rodney," John demanded impatiently.

"It turns out there _might_ be an element of truth to that myth," Rodney revealed starkly.


	6. Myth and Reality

**Chapter 6: Myth and Reality**

"Let me get this straight," Sheppard cut in. They were in the conference room _again_ – the same crew as before – and Rodney had just finished explaining his and Radek's findings. "You're telling me there might actually be some kind of creature trapped somewhere in the city?"

"Yes," Rodney said sickly. "And not just any creature ... this one seems to have the ability to tap into any of the ancient systems and use them to manipulate things so it can bring _us_ to it."

"How do we know that?" Woolsey asked curiously, his expression tinged with concern.

"We tracked a variety of systems in use but there's no overriding subroutine – malfunctioning or otherwise – running the show," Rodney explained.

"It is being activated manually, from an external source," Radek clarified succinctly.

"There's some kind of intelligent creature lurking in the city ... for _real_?" Lorne instinctively shifted closer to Laura as he looked to Rodney intently. "I mean right here, not in some other plane of existence or alternate reality?"

"I'd say yes but to be honest we don't really know," Rodney admitted.

"We know how it was able to do what it did because the manipulation of our systems left its traces," Radek continued the explanation. "For example Katya was right in thinking the neural interface technology could be behind our being drawn to that room while asleep."

"The mental component of using Ancient technology being used against us," Katya clarified.

"But I don't have the gene," Jennifer pointed out. "Neither does Ronon, Radek either."

"For some systems it only takes a gene holder to activate them," Katya reminded everyone. "From there anyone can use them ... in much the same way a gene holder would. We use a mental element to control the ancient systems ... there is a two way side to that which we believe the creature uses to control us."

"There's evidence of personnel records and city schematics being accessed too," Rodney added. "Then there's the shield and scan itself ... a component of that specific room which might explain why you were all directed there instead of somewhere else. As I said earlier, the scan was pretty simple in terms of what it was looking for. Hericus and Lore – described by a series of physical and personality statistics that unfortunately for us too closely match Major Lorne here. Cadman's not as close a match but the Major's hero act stopped the system from working that out. If it had scanned and rejected every likely couple in the city this thing might well be over for good."

"So it's _my_ fault then?" Lorne raised a brow at Rodney, his expression bland.

"Ah ... not exactly," Rodney tried to back track.

"Why now?" Laura asked, her eyes narrowed. "And why leave us to wake up in that room? If it had returned us to our quarters we'd be none the wiser."

"It only has partial control," Radek replied. "Each night it was able to do more but we believe it was cut off in some way before it could fully complete its objective."

"Kind of lends weight to the 'one night every two thousand years' thing ... where it gets the chance to act," Sheppard suggested.

"It is gaining in strength," Teyla concluded.

"Probably," Rodney admitted. "Something about its location must be cyclical – at some point whatever stops it from getting out must reach an optimal weak point but obviously in the lead up it can still act to a lesser degree."

"Can you stop it from getting control?" Woolsey had been uncharacteristically silent as he listened to the circling conversation.

"We don't know where it's coming from," Rodney explained. "I've used the city's scanners on that room myself more than once but there's nothing there – no hidden chamber, no ancient cage device – the city is too big for us to be able to search all of it to that degree. Whatever this thing is it could be anywhere – it doesn't need to be physically located close to that room to do what it's been doing."

"I'll take that as a no," Woolsey replied. "What about from our side? Doctor Keller, you mentioned something about letting the people affected retain some measure of awareness?"

"That was when I thought it was hypnosis," Jennifer explained. "This is something entirely different. Off the top of my head the only thing I can suggest is a stimulant – but that carries some risk and we'd have to know in advance when to administer it and to who."

"It wants Hericus," Lorne said quietly. "I say we give him to it."

"_Us_," Laura corrected grimly. "It wants Hericus _and_ Lore – if you're doing this then so am I!"

"That's not up to you Lieutenant," Evan's blue eyes were stern as he looked at her with his military facade firmly in place. He never pulled rank but keeping her safe was something he'd do anything to achieve.

"It's not up to you either Major," Sheppard pointed out mildly. "Now, before you have us all witnessing your lovers spat perhaps we should work out some kind of plan because I'm not giving it _anyone_ unless we've got a guaranteed way of defeating it."

"Yes Sir," Evan looked at Laura out of the corner of his eye, knowing she was thinking "_So there!_"

"How do we defeat it, assuming we can get someone close enough and in command of their faculties?" Sheppard opened the question up for debate.

"In the myth the creature was contained by the strength of the love between Hericus and Lore," Teyla spoke first.

"That's a nice story but I hardly think all the touchy feely stuff is going to influence this in reality," Rodney scoffed.

"Every myth has some basis in fact," Woolsey surprised everyone by voicing that opinion.

"We only need to lure it out of hiding," Ronon concluded, correctly deducing that the city's leader was suggesting they use the myth to their advantage. "Then we blast it so it never comes back."

"Actually, he's right," Rodney opened his laptop and accessed a file. Turning it so everyone could see the screen, he explained. "If Mr Woolsey is correct and there's truth to the myth then we're looking at something like this."

Evan looked at the image dispassionately. The now familiar pencil drawn images of Hericus and Lore – arms around each other and surrounded by an ill defined shape bigger than both of them combined, streams of darkness swirling around them.

"Piece of cake," he said confidently. "I can lure it out and Ronon can shoot it. End of myth."

"I don't think it will work that way," Radek frowned worriedly. "The creature is focussed on something very specific ... if we do not provide it with precisely what it wants it may not act at all."

"But that would be a good thing, right?" Jennifer asked.

"We'd never be able to relax again," Laura said lightly. "I'd rather do what it wants so we can get rid of it than wonder when it's going to try this on someone else."

"You said October 31st Rodney," Jennifer persisted. "We only have to avoid it tonight and it will have missed its chance."

"_If _the myth is accurate in that detail," Rodney clarified.

"And what happens in another two thousand years when it tries to come back again?" Radek asked. "We won't be here but our descendants very well could be."

"No – we do something about this tonight," Sheppard decided, his expression determined.

"I agree," Woolsey nodded. "Doctor Keller, prepare that stimulant. Colonel Sheppard, have teams ready to guard Major Lorne and Lieutenant Cadman at all times. They will lure the creature from hiding at which point your team will destroy it. "

"But ...," Lorne broke off when John shook his head subtly. "Yes Sir," he said reluctantly.

There was more discussion on the specific details before the plan was fully formed.

"Off to bed Major, Lieutenant," John said as the meeting was breaking up. "You look tired," he added, eyes full of amusement at Evan's pained look.

"I'll come by in a few minutes to give you that stimulant," Jennifer added. "It should last for a few hours ... I'd like to monitor you both but anything I do could interfere with the neural control – I'm not entirely sure the stimulant itself won't do that anyway."

"We'll be fine Jennifer," Lorne said reassuringly. "This will work."

"I hope so," Jennifer murmured, giving them both a concerned look before letting Ronon draw her from the room.

Only Evan, Laura and John remained, Teyla following Ronon when John gave her a silent request to leave him alone with the couple.

"Permission to speak freely Sir," Evan said immediately.

"Of course," John waited, pretty sure he knew what Lorne was going to say.

"I think it's a mistake to risk more than one person to this," Evan's tone was considered and calm. "At the very least we should try it with just me – there's no reason to think it wouldn't still be interested. Revenge is revenge, even if it's not complete."

"Permission to speak freely too Sir?" Laura got in before John could respond.

"Go for it," Sheppard took a figurative step back, expecting some fireworks.

"That's bullshit Sir," Laura said, her temper a sharp contrast to Evan's calm facade. "Evan doesn't believe it any more than you do – he just wants to keep me out of it."

"I got that Lieutenant," John said mildly.

"And Laura only wants to be there to prove that she's as tough as anyone," Lorne countered, getting a little riled up.

"That's not true!" Laura glared at Evan, her anger hiding the hurt she was feeling because that was all he thought it was. She had only herself to blame though - it wasn't as if she'd given him reason to think differently, something she promised herself she'd fix once their current mess had been cleaned up.

"I can see you both feel strongly about this," Sheppard looked from one to the other. "Now what _I_ think is that having you both there represents the best chance to finish this tonight. Ronon will be tracking you every second, as will I. All you have to do is let it happen – we'll do the rest."

"Right," Evan was resigned, knowing he wasn't going to convince his CO to change the plan.

"You can trust us to watch your back," John got to the heart of it.

"I do," Evan insisted. Turning his gaze to where Laura stood, her annoyance still plainly visible, he lowered his voice. "But I'm trusting you with something a lot more important than that Sir."

"I know," John acknowledged, "and in your position I'd be hesitant too. But I can't see any other way to finish this."

"Yes Sir," Evan nodded resolutely. Holding out a hand to Laura he said "shall we?"

"We shall," Laura smiled, pushing her anger aside with the inherent sweetness of his action. Taking his hand she let him lead her from the room.

oOo

"What are the side effects?" Evan watched as Jennifer prepared two syringes, he and Laura already in bed and dressed for a night that was hopefully going to include a stroll through the city.

"You're probably going to feel pretty jumpy," Jennifer admitted, moving to his side of the bed. "It'll take a while to kick in though – I've included a fast acting sleep agent – mild so it'll do nothing more than help you fall asleep. The stimulant is slow release – eventually it'll counter the sedative and you should become aware of what's happening."

"Okay, do it," Evan held out his arm, his eyes locked to Laura's. He didn't move as he felt the sting of the needle going in. "Your turn," he told Laura, keeping his eyes on her as Jennifer repeated the same process.

"That's it," Jennifer packed up her kit and stood for a moment, looking like she had something to say.

"What is it?" Evan asked.

"You make a nice couple," Jennifer said with a smile. "When this is all over maybe you could tell me about it. I think you owe me that after keeping me in the dark for so long."

"You got it Doc," Lorne promised with a faint smile.

"Don't blame him Jennifer," Laura told her friend. "Evan wanted to advertise the change in our relationship by walking through Atlantis holding hands – that would have been around the entire base inside of five minutes. I'm the one who insisted we keep it a secret. Evan did that for me."

"I know," Jennifer said gently. "Maybe you should think about that some more."

Laura nodded wordlessly.

"Right," Jenn looked around, making sure she had everything. "Good luck," she said as she took her leave.

Evan thought off at the lights, leaving them in the darkness, only a faint glow from the moon making it through the curtained windows.

"This is weird," Laura said a few minutes later.

"What – us in bed together?" Evan asked, turning to face her as his eyes adjusted to the darkness.

"No – us in bed together trying to sleep with everybody out there awake," Laura corrected.

"You know, I'm kinda surprised you're not spitting anger at me over getting us busted like that," Evan admitted.

"It's done and it was hardly your fault," Laura returned. Shifting closer she rested a palm on his chest and gave him her best glaring look. "But don't think I'm not mad at you for trying to exclude me tonight."

"You can be as mad as you like," Evan grabbed her hand and shifted to lean over her. "I'd do the same thing in a heartbeat to protect you."

"And who gets to protect you?" Laura shot back. Real anger was bubbling inside her again but it didn't have the chance to take hold in the face of the huge yawn that swept over her.

"We should sleep," Evan ignored her question, rolling onto his back and gathering Laura in close. "We can talk about it tomorrow."

"Fine," Laura said a little ungraciously. She waited a few moments in the darkness and then spoke again. "Aren't you at least going to kiss me goodnight?"

"Never in doubt," he teased, leaning over her and lightly touching his lips to hers.

"That's not a kiss," she protested, holding on to him when he made to move away. Pulling his head down to her, Laura initiated another kiss that had them forgetting the mission they'd signed up for. That was until Laura broke away with another jaw cracking yawn.

"Damn! If Jennifer hadn't drugged us I could be having so much fun right now," Laura almost slurred her words, the sedative taking real hold.

"You and me both Honey," Evan returned, slumping back to lie beside her. "Now ... time to go to sleep," he mock ordered.

She didn't mean to follow that order so precisely, but between one breath and the next she was asleep. Evan listened to her for a few minutes, having no awareness of when he followed her into dream land.

oOo

Surfacing, Evan became aware of two things. His heart was hammering and he felt hot ... beside him Laura was shifting in sharp, jerky motions that said she was feeling the same. Clearly the sedative had worn off and the stimulant taken over.

The wash of an awareness outside his own came gradually ... he felt it like a faint breeze on a mostly still day. It was disquieting ... the way the imperative to get up began echoing in his head.

"Laura," he whispered, putting a hand on her back and shaking her lightly.

The imperative to move was there ... Laura must have felt it too because she sat up abruptly, her eyes vacant as she looked at him before shifting to get out of bed.

"Hey," Evan leapt from the bed after her, grabbing her shoulders and leaning until his face was only millimetres away from hers. "_Laura_."

"Evan," Laura blinked a couple of times, her eyes sharpening as she returned to herself. She stood for a moment. "Do you feel it?" she asked quietly.

"Hell yes," Evan put his arm around her, turning them towards the door.

"It's stronger than I thought it would be," Laura admitted, taking an involuntary step forward. "I'm not sure I can resist it."

"We don't have to," Evan reminded her. Urging her to move, he led them from his room and down the corridor. He knew where the creatures scanning room was in relation to his quarters but wouldn't have needed to – the pull of outside control was leading them in the right direction.

Their escort hung back to avoid detection, just in case that was possible, but Evan knew Ronon was somewhere behind them, following. A few minutes later they arrived.

"It wants to scan us again," Laura said suddenly as they stepped inside.

"I know," Evan moved to the same spot they'd stood in the night before.

"It'll work out that I don't have the gene," Laura said worriedly.

"Then we'll just do what we did last time," he returned. "Sit down."

Laura sat, tucking her legs up to her chest. Evan knelt behind her this time, enfolding her in his arms, surrounding her with his heat. "This would be kind of hot if we weren't being controlled by the evil creature thing," she joked.

"And I'm sure Colonel Sheppard and Ronon got a kick out of hearing that," he said, chuckling despite the situation.

"What, you don't want them knowing I want to jump your bones the entire time I'm on base?" she teased.

"It'd be too late if I said no, now wouldn't it?" Evan tensed suddenly as the shield fell into place around them. "Get ready," he said, holding her tightly and bracing himself.

The scan had looked painful when he'd been watching himself on the video ... experiencing it when he was aware was ten times worse. He stifled the need to growl as the swirling disk of bright light swept over him, jabbing pins and needles deeply everywhere it touched. At the back of his mind that worried Evan ... that the way they were scanned seemed to be increasingly painful the more strength the creature gained. He was vaguely aware of Laura worriedly calling his name but ignored her, everything focussed on getting through it without letting her go.

When it was over he slumped back, barely avoiding touching the shield.

"Evan!" Laura turned, running her eyes over him rapidly, her eyes fearful.

"I'm okay," his voice came out weaker than he would have liked.

"You're not!" she said angrily. "You should have -,"

"We had no way of knowing what that thing would have done when it worked out you're not Lore," Evan regained enough of his strength to get up slowly, holding out a hand to pull her up next to him.

"Now what?" Laura let it go, looking around the room uncertainly.

"Now we see if I can still switch this shield off," Evan suggested, closing his eyes and concentrating. When he opened them a second later it was just in time to see the shield dropping away. "Okay, we're getting somewhere," he said, pulling Laura away from where they'd been standing.

"Where's the creature then?" Laura let go to take a few steps towards the console.

"Ah ... I think it's over there," Evan pointed to the adjacent wall. As they watched, the faint spark of light Lorne had first noticed pulsed as it grew larger and larger. Quickly it took over the whole wall and then moved out towards them.

That's when they discovered their first mistake. They'd assumed the confrontation, if there was one, would occur on their home turf. It didn't happen that way – instead the veil bulged out and engulfed Evan and Laura, drawing them into the gap between what they knew and the place where the creature existed.

One second they were in Atlantis, the next somewhere alien and strange. The lighting was oddly flat and grey, as though the yellows had been leached out of the spectrum. The space was ill defined around the edges, making it seem like nothing existed outside the range of sight. And they weren't alone.

They saw it just like in the drawing Rodney had shown them ... a large, amorphous darkness with streaming bands swirling and snapping around it.

"Fuck!" Evan grabbed Laura's hand and spun around, looking for the way they'd come in. He could just make out the room back on Atlantis but it was as if there was an invisible barrier between them. He tried to walk through it but couldn't. They were trapped.

oOo

"What's happening?" John spoke into his earpiece as he ran down the corridor towards the room that was the source of their current problems. Beside him Teyla ran as well, her expression a mix of concern and determination.

"Nothing much," Ronon said grimly. "The barrier's shrunk back to where it was. Lorne and Cadman are still nowhere to be seen."

"Crap," John picked up the pace, Teyla keeping up easily. "Did you call the others?"

"Yeah," Ronon replied. "Jennifer just got here. Radek said he'd grab Katya and be here in a few minutes."

"Okay, good," John turned the corner. "Teyla and I are almost there."

Running the last few metres, he burst into the room, heading straight over to where Rodney was manning his laptop. "Show me," he demanded, nodding towards the computers.

"I _knew_ this was a bad plan," Rodney muttered as he got the surveillance video running. John said nothing, noting Teyla's presence beside him as they watched the nightmare unfold.

"I thought you said it _wasn't_ an alternate reality or dimension?" John accused once the video had reached its grim end.

"I said I didn't think so!" Rodney corrected. "And we don't know that it's either of those things."

"How're we going to get in there?" Ronon cut straight to the point.

"It's solid," Jennifer had been standing close to the wall that had swallowed Evan and Laura. Before Ronon could stop her she put her hand over the spot where the light had first appeared.

"Jennifer!" Ronon rushed forward.

"I'm okay," Jennifer took her hand away, holding it up for him to see.

"Rodney, give me something here!" Sheppard looked to the scientist, his expression grim.

"I don't have anything ... yet," Rodney had that look on his face that said an epiphany was just around the corner. "Just give me a minute to think!"

Radek and Katya rushed into the room, Radek taking in the scene, his expression shifting immediately into concern. "Major Lorne ... Lieutenant Cadman?"

"Through there," John gestured the wall.

"We must hurry," Teyla moved closer to John, taking his arm. "If the story is true the creature will be intend on gaining entry to this world."

"And the only thing standing in its way is Evan and Laura," Jennifer concluded, her face pale.

**Authors Note:**

Okay, obviously there's still one chapter to go ... I miscalculated on timing the ending for Halloween Eve (for someone with a maths degree counting to seven proved surprisingly complicated LOL) but maybe in a timezone somewhere it will still be the 31st when I post next ... I'll put a rush job on editing! Thanks for reading everyone - hope you'll all stick around for the ending!


	7. Love and Consequence

**Chapter 7: Love and Consequence**

Evan turned to face the creature, pushing Laura behind him as he did.

"What are we going to do?" Laura grabbed the back of his shirt, pulling herself up so she could see over his shoulder.

"No idea," Evan muttered, "but not getting us killed is pretty high up on my list."

"Good to know," Laura tried to keep the nerves from her voice.

"_YOU WERE FOOLISH TO RETURN HERICUS_." The words boomed, surrounding them as it resonated harshly. "_NOW I WILL FINISH YOU AND CLAIM YOUR REALM AS MY OWN._"

Lorne flinched, sure his eardrums had suffered damage the volume was so loud. Behind him Laura clutched at his shirt convulsively, her breathing quickening.

"Ah ... I'm _not_ Hericus," Evan was pretty sure talking the creature down wasn't going to pan out but stalling until he came up with a better idea was the only plan he had.

"_YOU LIE!"_

"Major Evan Lorne, United States Air Force," Lorne introduced himself. "I'd say I'm pleased to be here but then I _would_ be lying."

"Evan, what are you doing?" Laura tried to move around him but he held her back, crowding her against the wall they'd somehow passed through.

"Whatever it takes," he spoke out of the corner of his mouth, his attention on the figure in front of him. As he watched, the shapelessness started to coalesce into a more recognisable form ... humanoid, a hell of a lot taller than Lorne, still a well of black from which nothing reflected. Streamers of the same darkness shifted and flowed around it and Evan couldn't help but wonder what would happen if one of them touched him, not that he wanted to find out anytime soon. As the figure moved closer, Evan grimly held his ground.

"_WHAT IS THIS TRICKERY_?" Evan held his breath as the face, if you could call it that, dipped down to his level. It was a cliché but Lorne really did feel colder the closer it got.

"No trickery," he returned strongly, standing still so the creature could work out the truth of that itself. "You've got the wrong guy."

"_WHERE IS HERICUS_?" the creature demanded, ribbons of darkness snapping the walls angrily.

"I've never met him so I can't say one hundred percent but I'm pretty sure he's dust," Lorne replied. "To us he's a character in a 15,000 year old legend." He'd have backed away at that point if he could, but there was nowhere for them to go.

"_IMPOSSIBLE!!!_" The darkness lost form abruptly as it turned away from them. "_I COULD NOT HAVE BEEN TRAPPED HERE FOR SO LONG._"

Lorne had obviously been involved in one too many Team Sheppard rescues, the urge to say 'time flies when you're having fun' almost irresistible.

The creature's dark streamers circled tightly around the central part of its form, making it seem as though it were spinning on the spot. Turning in on itself, it seemed to have forgotten Lorne and Cadman were there. Evan wasn't sure what it was doing or how long they had to act but the focus was off him for the moment so he turned to look at Laura. Her face seemed pale even in the grey light but her eyes glittered with determination.

"Can you make out what they're doing?" he asked in a low tone, nodding his head towards the wall and Atlantis.

"I can't tell," Laura whispered. "Everyone's there now though. Do you think they've got a plan?"

"I hope so because I'm shit out of options here," Evan admitted grimly. "Just make sure you stay behind me ... it's primary interest seems to be Hericus but let's not give it any reasons to branch out."

"I'm not hiding if that things comes at you," Laura countered insistently.

"You'll do as ordered Lieutenant," Lorne shot back grimly.

"Oh please," Laura rolled her eyes in exasperation. "We're God knows where and cut off from the base. I'm pretty sure rank no longer applies."

"Laura," Evan's tone was low and intimate. "Whatever happens I need to know you're okay. _Please_ ... do this for me."

Laura's expression turned mutinous, her eyes locked to his as she considered his words. With a sigh she relented, nodding. "Fine ... I'll stay back for now. But if you let that thing hurt you to protect me I'll make you regret it for the rest of your life."

"Noted," Evan smiled, reaching out and smoothing his hand over her hair. "We'll get out of this ... Colonel Sheppard and Rodney will think of something."

"Their turn to rescue you," Laura joked bravely.

"Yeah, and even then they'll still owe me big time," Evan returned with a grin. "Not that anyone is keeping score."

"_Evan_," Laura's eyes shifted from his face to the space behind him.

Turning, Lorne had just enough time to register the creature's return to its vaguely human shape before one of those dark ribbons was slamming him across their prison.

"Oh God," Laura whispered, eyes fixed on Evan's still form, silently pleading for him to get up.

oOo

"How is it weakening the barrier between where it resides and here?" Radek was thinking aloud, he and Rodney bouncing ideas off each other in an effort to come up with something that would help.

"You're thinking maybe we can do the same from this side," Rodney commented.

"Perhaps," Radek pushed his glasses back into position, other hand on one hip as he stood behind Rodney, watching as the other man entered commands into his laptop.

"It was drawing power from the ZPM even before it began bringing us down here," Sheppard reminded them. "Could it have been using that somehow? Doesn't the legend say the veil is weak leading up to tonight? Maybe it was hitting the barrier with power from the city."

"You mean like breaking through a shield when you know where the weak points are?" Rodney turned to look at John assessingly.

"Exactly,' John nodded. "You hit a shield with enough force and you can get something through, even if the rest of it remains intact."

Snapping his fingers excitedly, Rodney looked at Radek. "We need to scan for energy displacement ...,"

"... yes, yes, as we do to detect shielded craft in space," Radek finished excitedly. He turned to Katya who was nodding too. "The Jumper prototype?" he asked.

"That could work," she agreed.

"What prototype?" John asked.

"Ah ... the new hyperdrive unit we are working on Colonel," Radek explained hurriedly. "We thought it best to incorporate separate shielding technology rather than bastardising the Jumper's cloak. From inside a shield testing its voracity is much the same as detecting a shield externally."

"You use the same method to test the strength of your shield as you do to detect someone else's," John concluded.

"Yes, exactly," Rodney took over, looking smug. "It is very simple actually ... we bounce energy off the shield and measure the power in the return beam. The rate of decay indicates shield strength – the weaker the shield, the more energy that gets absorbed, leaving less energy to be returned."

"And you can use this to work out where Laura and Evan were taken?" Teyla asked hopefully.

"If the Veil has enough similarities to a standard shield then yes," Rodney said simply.

"If we direct enough energy where they disappeared, wouldn't that be all they need?" Jennifer queried.

"Maybe," Rodney allowed the possibility, "but without an understanding of what we're dealing with here it might make things worse." Turning to Radek and Katya he continued. "Go get your prototype. We'll set it up in here and see what we get."

"I will accompany you," Teyla looked to John and got a reluctant nod of agreement.

"Me too," he added, motioning for Radek to lead the way.

The four hurried from the room, leaving Rodney, Jennifer and Ronon to wait impatiently.

oOo

Thankfully it didn't take long for Sheppard to return with Radek, Katya and Teyla, the scientists carrying a small Jumper module between them. John had a naqahdah generator as well – for when they got to the stage of needing that burst of energy. Rodney pounced on them the second they arrived, all three scientists immediately shifting into geek mode as they worked to connect the system to Rodney's laptop.

"I feel useless," Jennifer said to Ronon in an undertone, her eyes fixed on the scientists working.

"Now you know how I feel half the time," Ronon smirked slightly. "Don't worry ... the team thing has already kicked in so we'll have something to do soon."

"The team thing?" Jennifer looked at him quizzically.

"Yeah," Ronon shrugged. "Sheppard comes up with a crazy idea, Rodney works out how to make it happen, Teyla keeps the peace and I shoot the bad guys. Then you come in and patch us all up so we can do the same thing again tomorrow."

"The team thing," Jennifer smiled, amused at the accuracy of his assessment. "I like that."

"Just the way it is," Ronon shrugged.

"Do you think they're okay?" Jennifer couldn't help but ask, crossing her arms over her chest, her gaze back on the wall Evan and Laura had disappeared through.

"Lorne's resourceful," Ronon put his hands on Jennifer's upper arms, rubbing them lightly. "And Cadman isn't a pushover. They'll hold on long enough for us to get to them."

"And what if we let the creature out along with them?" Jennifer persisted.

Ronon shifted to pull out his gun, twirling it quickly before putting it back. "The team thing," he reminded her.

"Right ... you shoot it," Jennifer said, her expression saying that for once she wasn't comforted by that fact.

"We've got something!" Rodney's announcement drew them all over to him.

"What is it?" Sheppard demanded.

"This," Rodney shifted the laptop so they could all see the diagram displayed. "That's Atlantis," he pointed to an outline of the city," and _this_ is a trans-dimensional bubble just barely intersecting it," he rotated the diagram so they could all see the flat oblong disk cutting through the outer edge of one of the towers. "It's rotating slowly around a central axis point which explains the 2000 years it takes to go all the way around. This point," he tapped the screen where the two shapes connected "is where we are right now - the fact that it's intersecting our dimension is the only reason we can detect it - the rest of the time you wouldn't even know it was there. I'm guessing that at some point a long time ago the Ancients in their wisdom decided to mess with other dimensions. They got more than they bargained for and tried to stuff it all back in the box. Only trouble was a small part got left behind, complete with at least one angry resident."

"And this is what Hericus and Lore discovered?" Teyla asked.

"I guess so," Rodney agreed. "They must have stalled the creature breaking through until the weak point rotated out of alignment with the city again, effectively trapping whatever's in there until the next time it rotated around."

"Why didn't it just break through then?" Jennifer frowned.

"I don't know," Rodney admitted. "Guessing again, maybe it can only get through if it's got someone on this side of the connection to help it. There's no telling how aware it is either – just because we know there's a chance every 2000 years doesn't mean _it_ does. That's a long time between drinks. Maybe it's not even the same creature ... other dimension doesn't necessarily equate with immortal, myth or no myth."

"So we know the what and the how," Sheppard summarised. "Can we break through from this side?"

"Yes, at least partially," Rodney replied. "Enough for Lorne to get them back through ... I think."

"You _think_?" John looked incredulous.

"Look, this isn't exactly a run of the mill situation and time isn't on our side – we don't have the luxury of researching every aspect," Rodney said impatiently. "The longer we delay the closer Lorne and Cadman are to getting trapped on the other side."

"Right," John nodded. "Okay – do what you have to."

Radek and Katya stepped up to the controls on the portable generator, Radek checking readings before nodding at Rodney. "It is ready," he said simply.

"Here goes," Rodney muttered, pressing the enter key.

oOo

"_Evan_!" Laura called out more urgently.

Lorne groaned, rolling over with a pained cough. "Ouch," he got out, sitting up slowly, hand over his abdomen.

The creature had been moving towards Lorne ... until Laura's call. Swirling swiftly it turned and moved back towards the barrier.

"Laura – _move_!" Evan leapt up, ignoring the protest from all the sore places he'd acquired.

Skirting the edge of the space on her way towards Lorne, Cadman shrieked when the creature wavered and then reformed in front of her, blocking her path.

"_YOU ARE NOT LORE_," it stated, anger pulsing off it, the darken around it shifting threateningly.

"No, but I'm still gonna kick your ass," Laura growled out. "What I wouldn't give for some Composition B right about now," she muttered, referring to the explosive nitroamine mix of TNT and RDX. "Hell, even a block of C4 would do the trick!"

Behind them, Lorne hadn't been still. As Laura talked it up he'd crept around behind the creature towards her, not sure what he intended to do without any weapons but knowing he wasn't letting it hit Laura as it had him.

"_YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME!"_

Evan lunged, pushing Laura out of the way just as the creature struck. He hit the wall hard, slumping to the ground a few feet away. Cadman rushed to him, dropping down at his side, relieved to see him conscious.

"I thought we agreed you weren't going to get hurt protecting me," she accused, using anger to hide her fear.

"That's not how I remember it," he ground out. Behind her he saw the creature moving forward again. "Get up," he urged her, taking the hand she held out and letting her haul him off the floor.

They managed to avoid the next strike but Evan knew it wouldn't be long before they'd run out of steam. He needed to do something. Pulling away from Laura abruptly he stepped into the path of the creature, his unexpected move causing it to pause.

"Let her go and I'll stay here willingly," he offered grimly. "You can take your revenge for what Hericus did from me."

"No!" Laura protested.

"Be _quiet_ Lieutenant!" Lorne ordered, his gaze on the creature.

"_YOU AMUSE ME_," the strands of darkness lifted and slowed in time with the creature pausing in its approach.

"Yeah, well maybe I can keep you entertained for a while," Evan proposed, "because one thing I know for sure? You try to step through that barrier and our people will cut you down before you can go two paces. We're not like the race you knew and we've had _15,000_ _years_ to develop technology you can only imagine." It was a bluff of sorts – Lorne didn't know if their Earth weapons could defeat the creature. He was counting on it not knowing either – and valuing its own existence enough not to take the risk.

"Evan," Laura's voice shook, her eyes glinting with unshed tears. "_Please_ ..."

"Let her go - she'll tell them not to destroy you," Lorne insisted resolutely, ignoring Laura. "That way you get something for your troubles."

"_OR PERHAPS I WILL TORTURE YOUR MATE UNTIL YOU REVEAL YOUR WEAPONS CAPABILITY_," the creature proposed with a chilling laugh.

"Okay, that was a _bad_ idea!" Lorne dived and rolled across the floor, feeling the energy from the creature's streamers brushing over him. Grabbing Laura's hand he headed for the adjacent wall, behind which Atlantis lay waiting. "Any time you want to rescue us Colonel," he muttered sarcastically.

As if in answer to his request, the wall in front of him began to swirl with light, a small point of colour in the otherwise gloomy space.

"_Get back_," he pushed Laura behind him, one part of his mind tracking the creature heading straight for them and the other watching the wall.

The light grew rapidly until they were flinching as it cut through their vision painfully.

"_WHAT IS THIS?"_ Finally the creature changed its tack, its attention on the barrier.

"Our people," Evan grinned mockingly. "You should have taken me up on that offer when you had the chance."

Laura pulled on his hand forcefully. "Totally _not_ the time to be a smart ass," she told him warningly.

With no warning the light from Atlantis burst through the wall ... it didn't break it so much as stretch it out of form, pushing the barrier out into the creatures prison.

"Come on," Evan dragged Laura towards the centre where the barrier seemed thinnest.

"_Stop!_" The mental imperative hit him hard and he stopped. The stimulant Jennifer had given them was still effective but the neural control was stronger. The competing demands of stimulant and control had his heart pumping rapidly and his head pounding.

"Evan," Laura pulled on his hand, urging him to keep moving.

"I can't," he growled, trying to move his feet but feeling like they were encased in concrete.

"You can!" She pulled harder, breathing harshly, her eyes desperate.

"Go," Evan told her. It was an odd feeling – having an entirely lucid conversation while at the back of his mind he continued to hear the command to stay where he was.

"No!" Laura shook her head, not looking at him.

"Laura," Evan shook her until she met his eyes. "Go ... before it tries to control you too."

"I'm not leaving you," Laura insisted. "If you want me out of here then you have to come with me."

"_Please_," the expression in his eyes, the open anguish in those blue depths had tears rising in hers.

"No," she swallowed hard, swiping at her face impatiently. "Now stop wasting energy trying to be a hero and move your goddamn ass Major!"

"_HOW TOUCHING_," the creature had clearly decided that nothing threatening was coming through the barrier and turned its attention back to them. "_HERICUS AND LORE WERE JUST AS PATHETIC, BELIEVING THEIR LOVE COULD STOP ME_."

"Go to Hell!" Evan yelled, redoubling his efforts to override its control. He knew the creature was torturing them – holding him still and leaving Laura free to torment them.

"Come on," Laura ignored everything but the need for Evan to break free. He was straining now, veins bulging in his neck and his face reddening as he pushed against an unseen force.

"Okay, I'll make you a deal," Laura put her hands on his face, pulling him close. "You get us both out of here and I'll make that not yet a yes."

"Really?" For a moment he forgot the severity of their situation, all his attention on her.

"Really," she confirmed seriously.

"Okay, I'm holding you to that." Lorne looked at the creature and then at the barrier back to Atlantis. And then he grinned. "Get ready," he told Laura casually, abruptly dropping to the floor and taking her down with him.

oOo

"The barrier has expanded into their dimension," Radek exclaimed. "Why haven't they reappeared?"

"Because they can't," Ronon said grimly, drawing his gun.

"Wait, won't that hurt Evan and Laura?" Jennifer asked worriedly. "What if they can't get clear?"

"Then they'll want us to defeat whatever's holding them," Ronon said simply. Stepping forward with his gun raised, he fired at the centre of the energy beam still coming from the generator. Over and over, expression fierce, until his weapon ran out of power.

"My turn," Sheppard took Ronon's place, P-90 at the ready. Before he could fire a single shot the barrier bulged in the opposite direction, just barely missing him. When it settled back into place Evan Lorne and Laura Cadman were standing in front of the wall, Lorne with an arm firmly around Laura's shoulders.

"Perfect timing Sir," he said blandly, eyes briskly checking his companion to make sure she was okay.

"I aim to please," Sheppard replied just as blandly. "Good to have you back Major."

"You have _no_ idea how good it is to be back Sir," Lorne returned.

"Thank God," Jennifer rushed forward then, hugging Laura and Evan before stepping back and shifting into doctor mode. "Are you hurt?" she asked, looking for signs of injury.

"I'm okay," Laura reassured her. "Evan took a beating though – you need to check him out."

"Laura – I'm fine," Lorne protested, for form more than anything. He had a colossal headache and had struggled to contain his groan of pain when Jennifer had hugged him.

"You're not!" Laura said angrily. "And don't think I'm not going to ream you out just as soon as you are."

Evan frowned but didn't deny that she had cause.

"I take it you've got quite the story to tell us Major?" John commented, looking from in 2IC to Cadman and back again.

"Ah ... yes Sir," Lorne said reluctantly.

"Infirmary first," Jennifer announced insistently.

In the face of her determination and Laura's mix of irritation and concern there was nothing Evan could do but go along meekly.

oOo

In the early hours of the following afternoon, after infirmary visits and the chance to catch a little sleep, they all met in the conference room again. This time the atmosphere was relaxed, the mystery solved bar everyone hearing the parts of the story they hadn't been present for. Evan sat next to Laura ... he had a couple of cracked ribs and a boat load of bruising but all things considered was in pretty good shape, with the help of the pain killers Jennifer had pressed on him before letting him leave the infirmary.

The debriefing was as interesting as it got – the others very keen to hear what had taken place on the other side of the barrier.

"You wounded it," Evan told Ronon with satisfaction once he'd filled them in. "I'm not sure it _can_ be killed but the energy from that gun of yours stopped it in its tracks, distracted it from us. If you hadn't done that I don't think we'd have broken free."

"That's Ronon's job," Jennifer joked. When they all looked at her she grinned at Ronon teasingly. "He shoots things," she said simply.

Lorne laughed, nodding his thanks to the Satedan. He stopped for a moment and then asked the question that had troubled him since they'd come back through the barrier. "What I don't get is why it was able to hold on to me so completely, but not Laura. I thought maybe it was deliberately taunting me but that's just ... disturbing."

"It wasn't because you were weak Major," Teyla reassured him, her tone gentle. "The legend of Hericus and Lore tells of sacrifice ... Lore was willing to do anything to be with the one she loved. She lived in secret and accepted what Hericus was willing to give ... when faced with defeat she was willing to die to save him."

"It's a good story," Evan hoped like hell his face wasn't as flushed as it felt.

"You know what this means?" Rodney's expression was smugly teasing and Lorne knew he wasn't going to like whatever the other man was going to say.

"_What_?" he demanded, the warning clear.

"You're the girl," Rodney concluded triumphantly, grinning. "In the story ... you might look like Hericus but for the rest of it you were Lore."

Lorne chuckled good naturedly along with the rest, carefully keeping his eyes from Laura's. He wanted to know what she was thinking ... just not right then when they were surrounded by people who suddenly seemed too interested in their relationship.

"Don't feel bad Major," Radek said in an undertone. "Katya and I studied the neural systems the creature was using to control you. We believe it was able to hold you back because you have the gene naturally – the stronger and more able a person is to use the Ancient systems, the more tightly the creature could hold on."

"Thanks Radek," Lorne said gratefully.

oOo

"Rodney's already working on a way to permanently shield that room," Lorne announced as he joined Laura on the balcony closest to his quarters late in the evening. It had been a long day on top of a difficult night but strangely Evan didn't feel that tired, despite only getting a few hours of sleep after the Doc had released him from the infirmary. Laura wasn't exactly avoiding him but she hadn't been forthcoming in talking about anything either ... hence him tracking her down.

"That's nice," Laura replied distractedly.

"Something wrong?" Evan asked, going for innocent even though he knew exactly what was bothering her.

"Is something _wrong_?!" She turned incredulous eyes on him. "You offered yourself up as some kind of sacrifice without even _asking_ me if I wanted you to save me and you're wondering if something's wrong?!"

"I'm not going to apologise," Evan took her hands and held on tightly when she tried to pull away. "I'm only gonna say this once and then it's done. You are the most important thing in the world to me Laura Cadman ... I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to you when I could have done something to stop it. If that means I'm dead then so be it ... I'd do the same thing again ... in a _heartbeat_. I wouldn't stop to think about it – that's just the way it is for me."

"_Arg_," Laura growled. "You make it so hard to stay angry at you!" she complained, keeping her eyes on their joined hands.

She fell silent and Evan felt her trembling ... and then a single tear drop landed on his wrist. "Laura?" he let go, using his hands to gently urge her head up so he could see her face.

"Don't," she cried, trying to move away.

"Don't cry," he almost begged, the sight of the usually unflappable and often a little scary Marine upset unnatural and disturbing.

"I'm trying not to!" she exclaimed, wiping her hands over her face. Taking a few deep breaths she got herself back under control, turning away to stand at the balcony railing, looking out to sea. "I was _so_ scared," she admitted after a few moments of silence. "Not of the creature, not because I thought I was going to die." Turning she met Evan's eyes. "I really thought it was going to kill you and I just ...," she swallowed hard. "Don't do that to me again okay?"

"I'll try not to," Evan promised.

She launched herself at him then, pulling his head down and kissing him like there was no tomorrow, like she'd wanted to when she'd thought there wouldn't be. He let her take the lead, returning her passion with his own.

"I do love you," she broke away to declare before moving in to kiss him again.

"Does that mean you're going to live up to that deal?" Evan asked, holding her back a little. "Are you going to say yes this time?"

"Ask me and find out," she challenged.

"Fine," Lorne took a deep breath, holding her hands and looking into her eyes. "Marry me," he said simply.

"Okay," Laura grinned. "Now, kiss me again."

"Yes Ma'am," Evan grinned back at her before giving in to her demands.

oOo

"Did I hear right?" Rodney queried, sitting down across from John and Teyla in the Mess Hall. Ronon and Jennifer were already there, along with Radek and Katya. It was a post 'we survived another weird encounter in the city of the Ancients' celebration of sorts – a chance to reflect on their experiences now that things were back to normal.

"Depends on what you heard McKay," John replied casually.

"You scooped the pool on Lorne and Cadman," Rodney accused.

"John," Teyla's voice was a warning.

"What?" John tried to look innocent.

"I can't believe you used inside information to win a bet!" Rodney retorted.

"You're only mad because you didn't get in first," John said mildly.

"That's beside the point – I thought you were supposed to be setting a good example," Rodney pointed out sarcastically.

"Yeah – about using every piece of intel available to you," John said smugly. "I think I'm in with a good chance on the new Lorne Cadman pool too," he added, nodding towards the entrance.

They all turned to see Evan and Laura walking hand in hand into the Mess Hall. Something about their posture and expressions announced that things had changed between them beyond their relationship no longer being secret ... for the better.

"She said yes," Teyla said with a smile.

"Looks like it," John agreed.

"Well at least something good came out of this then," Jennifer said, smiling. "This is certainly the most memorable Halloween I've ever had."

"And we didn't even have to dress up," John joked. When Ronon and Teyla looked at him quizzically he shrugged. "That's a story for another time," he said.

"Sir," Lorne and Cadman had seen the others sitting at a table and made their way over.

"Major, Lieutenant," Sheppard grinned. "Join us."

"Thanks," Laura sat first, looking around curiously. "What'd we miss?"

"Nothing much," Sheppard said innocently. "What'd _we_ miss?"

"Nothing much," Lorne replied just as innocently.

**The End!**

**Authors Note:**

This story was inspired by one of the aspects of Halloween, as discussed in wikipedia. It says that the ancient Celts believed that the border between this world and the Otherworld became thin on Samhain – all hallows eve - allowing spirits (both harmless and harmful) to pass through. This is my attempt to turn that into an Atlantis story so I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading!


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